The San Saba Lady Dillos had a great week of basketball as they captured five wins and ran their season record to 11-3. We played last Tuesday against Lago Vista and soundly defeated the Lady Vikings once again by a score of 74-30. We played a sluggish first half which might’ve been due to the roller coaster ride that we were on as we traveled several “goat trails” to get to the school. We were up 33-16 at halftime but we had a 28 point third quarter which got the ball rolling for us. We hit six three pointers during this period. Tarah Crosby lead us in scoring with 13 points followed by Calea with 11, Haylee with 10, Shelby with 9 and Nicole and Jo both tallied 7. Our next opponent was Zephyr to open the Goldthwaite Tournament. We kept our momentum going as we downed the Lady Bulldogs by a score of 65-25. Shelby Hardy had a big game netting 20 points and Johnise Bush chipped in 11. We hit 9 three pointers in this game.

Next up was Brady and we rolled over the Lady Dawgs by a score of 71-35. We had a huge second half breaking out for twenty three points in the third period and twenty two in the fourth. The Lady Dillos scorched the nets for eleven three pointers in this contest. Shelby Hardy lead all scorers with 19 followed by Calea with 14, Tarah Crosby also chipped in 11 points. On Friday we played a district foe in the form of the Lady Kats from Coleman. The three ball was alive and well for us once again as we hit for nine three pointers and downed Coleman 67-35. Haylee Oliver had a big game with 17 points followed by Calea with 10. Shelby scored 8 points followed by Whitney Key and Katy Davis with 7 each. On Saturday night we faced the Lady Eagles from Goldthwaite in the finals. We were expecting a 2-3 zone from our visitors from the North but I guess after two days of watching us drain three pointers they decided to man us. I told the girls that this was a sign of respect when a TEAM does something totally different than what they normally do. The Lady Eagles battled us which I knew they would. We were up five at half, 24-19 but we had a big third quarter and outscored them 18-8 to take a 42-27 lead into the fourth quarter.

We closed out the fourth quarter by outscoring the Lady Eagles 10-8 and crossed back over the river with a tournament championship. Our TEAM really played well. All Lady Dillos contributed in some way and it was good to get a win in a tough environment. Whitney Key and Jaena Edwards provided some tough post defense which really helped. The bad news of the night was that we probably lost Nicole Sears for the rest of the year to a knee injury. Nicole was to have her knee checked this past Monday but it didn’t look good at the tourney. She said she heard a “loud pop” which normally doesn’t produce good news. All I know is that we’ve lost three really good players to knee injuries the past two years and I hurt for those kids. We’ll just rally around our injured players and keep playing.

Our Lady Dillos will “Never Give Up!!!” I’m just numb to the knee injuries, there are no words that can ease the pain for Shelby last year and Katy and Nicole this year. We’ll get those knees fixed and be better and stronger in the future. When the paper comes out we will have played Ballinger who is really tough. Our opponent tomorrow is Wall and we really need a good crowd to help us pull out a victory. Our district is the toughest in the state as far as 2A goes. Every night will be a battle or a “grinder” as I like to say so your presence is very important to our ladies and TEAM. The Big 4 (Wall, Jim Ned, Early and Ballinger) all follow their girls very well so we would appreciate any support by your attendance or through your lungs.

The San Saba JV Lady Dillos also played Lago Vista and were in the Goldthwaite Tournament as well. This past Tuesday your Lady Dillos defeated Lago Vista 41-24. Sylvia “Chiva” Jimenez had a big night hit 4 three pointers and scoring 14 points. Johna Reavis and Danessa Vasquez each scored 6. At Goldthwaite the Lady Dillos defeated Zephyr 28-13. Danessa Vasquez lead all scorers with 13 followed by Sylvia with 5 and Johna with 4. Friday we played Coleman and lost 33-27. We were down 21-13 at halftime and couldn’t ever regain the lead. Bianca Zepeda lead us in scoring with 8 points. Saturday we played Brady and lost 42-41. We were down 7 at halftime and were down 11 at the end of the third, we made a big push late but couldn’t quite pull it out. Danessa had a big game hitting 15 points while Bianca added 9. Johna Reavis also tallied 6 points for us.

Next Monday, Dec. 17, the schedule calls for us to play two games but Brady has canceled the JV game. Next Monday will be VARSITY ONLY starting at 5:00 p.m. I know we’ve been on the road a while but we have two huge home games coming up in the next two weeks and we would appreciate your support for the Lady Dillos and Armadillos.