Del Valle girls basketball team uses smothering defense to knock off Lady Rebels

by Jason Gordon

The Hays girls basketball team had the look of a squad about to run Del Valle out of the gym early on in Tuesday night’s key matchup.

But with the District 17-4A title on the line, the Lady Cardinals came storming back led by a smothering defense and Monique McElveen’s rebounding prowess to claim a 35-26 win at Hays’ Bales Gym.

The victory means the Lady Cardinals (29-2, 9-1 17-4A) and Lady Rebels (22-9, 10-1) will likely finished as co-district champions. Both coaches said they expect to flip a coin after the regular season to determine playoff seeding.

Del Valle trailed 8-2 early on after back-to-back 3-pointers by Hays’ Angeleigh Davis and Ashley Rankine, but the Cardinals took a 24-20 lead at halftime with the help of four McElveen offensive rebounds and putbacks.

Hays closed to within 24-22 early in the third quarter, but Del Valle limited the Rebels to only four points the rest of the game, creating numerous turnovers.

“We just never were comfortable on offense,” Hays head coach Donny McDonald said. “We went nuts and started throwing up shots we normally don’t take.”

While Del Valle also struggled to find a groove offensively for most of the night, McElveen, who finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds, helped the Cardinals increase their lead by scoring eight more points in the paint in the second half.

“Monique just knows how to find the basketball,” Del Valle head coach Tawni Angel said. “She did a great job tonight.”

McElveen’s rebounding ability helped limit Hays to one shot on the offensive end as the Lady Rebs were trying to claw back into the game in the fourth quarter.

“(McElveen) ate our lunch,” McDonald said. “She just killed us tonight.”

Davis led Hays, which lost for the first time since mid-December, with nine points.