Lady Rebels use quick start to blast Lehman 73-46

by JASON GORDON

As good as the Hays girls basketball team has been through the years, the Lady Rebels have been known for getting off to notoriously slow starts. That certainly wasn’t the case Friday night at Lehman.

Angeleigh Davis (21) fights for an offensive rebound in Hays’ 73-46 win at Lehman. Friday night. Davis led the Lady Rebs, who improved to 8-0 in District 17-4A play, with 17 points. PHOTO by JUDY COOPER

The Lady Rebs came out firing on all cylinders and cruised to a 73-46 win over the Lady Lobos.

It was the third time this season Hays, which improved to 20-8 overall and 8-0 in District 17-4A, has beaten its cross-town rival.

“Hays is a great team,” Lehman head coach Danny Preuss said. “I think they are by far the best team in our district.”

Chrissy Arias started the scoring barrage for Hays, nailing two early 3-pointers and making a driving layup to help stake the Lady Rebs to a 12-3 lead.

Bekah Lucio countered for Lehman with a short jumper, but two Ashley Rankine 3-pointers, including one with six seconds left on the clock, gave Hays a 25-9 lead after the first quarter of play.

“We definitely came out focused tonight,” said Rankine, who continued her recent hot scoring stretch with four 3-pointers and 14 points. “Lehman and Del Valle are the two teams we never want to lose to. We always come out ready to play them.”

Bri Garza tried to get Lehman (13-16, 2-6) back in the game by hitting a 3-pointer, a pull-up 15-footer and by using a sweet move to the basket to shake free for a layup, but Hays wasn’t backing down.

Ashley Magallanez found Ashley Johnson with a pass she converted into a three-point play, Julia Birch passed to Magallanez for a layup and Rankine nailed a long 3-pointer from the right baseline to put the Lady Rebels up 41-18 with just over a minute to play in the first half.

Angeleigh Davis, who led Hays with 17 points, showed why she is one of the most unstoppable forces in the district by converting two straight offensive rebounds and put-backs, and the Lady Rebs led 45-25 at the half.

Hays made six 3-pointers and converted 12-of-13 free throws in the first half alone.

“We expected Lehman to come right at us on their home court, so we came out prepared,” Arias said. “We had an adrenaline rush early tonight.”

Hays started out the third quarter just like it started out the game, with Rankine and Davis nailing 3-pointers, and the Lady Rebs led 63-33 heading to the final quarter of play.

Garza, who had five total 3-pointers and a game-high 21 points, and her Lehman teammates never quit, as the Lady Lobos made a mini-run early in the fourth quarter.

Garza’s 3-pointer, a Kerry Robinson layup, and two Tori Torres 3-pointers cut the gap to 67-46 midway through the fourth quarter, but Lehman could get no closer.

“Our team fought hard, and I’m proud of their effort,” Preuss said. “We just don’t match up well against Hays. They are a classy team that we have a lot of respect for and we hope they go on another long playoff run.”

Along with Davis and Rankine, Brooke Borreson (12 points) and Arias (10 points) finished in double-digits in the scoring column for Hays.

The Lady Rebels will try and stay unbeaten in 17-4A when they host Manor, a regional quarterfinalist team last season, Tuesday night. Lehman, which likely needs to win three of its final four games to have a shot at a return trip to the playoffs, plays at Lockhart Tuesday night. Both games tip off at 7 p.m.