The San Saba Lady Dillos started off their season with a big win over the Ingram Lady Warriors. The Lady Dillos jumped out to a 21-5 first quarter lead and never looked back. The Lady Dillos went on to defeat Ingram by a score of 74-33. We were able to overwhelm the Lady Warriors with our full court pressure and it allowed us to create a lot of turnovers and easy scoring opportunities. I was proud of the girls and the way we played together as a team. It was a great team victory and an excellent way to start the season! Scoring for the Lady Dillos were Cromer 20, A. Maxcey 5, Kutin 7, C. Saldivar 9, M. Maxcey 16, Osbourn 6, Lasley 7, and A. Saldivar 4.The Lady Dillos then traveled to the Coleman Tournament on Nov. 8-10. The Lady Dillos faced some unique circumstances during the three-day span due to the State Cross Country Meet being the same weekend. There are 4 girls (Alexa Maxcey, Libby Lasley, Alexus Saldivar, and Katy Ingram) that are a part of our basketball program that also run for the cross-country team. Just to let you know how tough these girls really are; they played two basketball games on Thursday, one basketball game on Friday, ran at the State XC meet on Saturday morning (finished 4th in the State), and then loaded up and headed back to Coleman to play in our final game of the tournament. The dedication and commitment of these kids is definitely something to be admired. I am so proud of them and truly blessed to have such special kids in our program. The Lady Dillos faced Stamford in our first game of the tournament and defeated the Lady Bulldogs 54-24. In the second game, we went up against state ranked Merkel. Merkel has two 6’3" girls in their starting line up and that presented a huge mismatch for us defensively. Merkel proved to be too much for the Lady Dillos and defeated us by a score of 18-77. On Friday morning, the Lady Dillos would bounce back against Jim Ned’s Junior Varsity. We won by a score of 44-24. Saturday, the Lady Dillos’s faced Cross Plains. We would only have 5 Varsity players for this game since the Cross Country team ran at 10:00 a.m. that morning. Despite all odds, the Lady Dillos responded to the challenge and came away victorious. They defeated Cross Plains 56-36. I want to take the time to say something about the 7 girls (Kayla Kutin, Karlee Cromer, Candace Saldivar, McKenna Maxcey, Hailey Osbourn, Joy Trujillo, and McKenzie McBee) that battled their tails off on Saturday. These girls faced a big challenge. We like to play a fast paced style of basketball and we play with a lot of intensity and lots of defensive pressure. All of these require great physical conditioning as well as mental toughness. We knew going into this game that we would be shorthanded but not one time did any of these girls make excuses or complain. They were proud of their fellow teammates who were running at the State Cross Country Meet and they vowed they would “Hold the Rope” for them until they made it back. They did just that. With only 7 players, the Lady Dillos found a way to get the job done and come away with a big win! In the final game of the tournament, the Lady Dillos played the Lady Tigers of Anson for 3rd place. The cross-country girls made it back mid way through the 2nd quarter and fell right into the action. The Lady Dillos ended up defeating Anson by a score of 39-31. I would also like to congratulate the Lady Dillo JV team on a 3-0 start to their season. This week they picked up wins against Ingram, Winters, and Coleman. Great job and keep up the hard work!The Lady Dillos will travel to Llano on Tuesday to face the Lady Yellow Jackets. They will also be hosting the Hill Country Classic on November 15-17. There will be a combined total of 25 Varsity and JV teams here for the tournament and there is sure to be some great basketball being played. If you get a chance, please come out and support these young ladies! Go Lady Dillos!