by WES FERGUSON
With her team trailing 8-6 after a bumpy first quarter, Lehman girls basketball coach Jamie Coy decided to turn up the intensity in the second frame of Friday’s home game against Boerne.
“Texas! Texas!” she yelled.
The Lobos moved into a full-court press, and Lehman’s Emma Martinez stepped in front of a lobbed pass at midcourt, stole the ball and found point guard Amara Smith streaking past her defender for an easy layup.
Then the Lobos’ Olivia Marzullo hauled in a long rebound on the wing and fed the ball to Smith. She crossed over her defender and dished to Martinez, who completed the fast break en route to a 17-4 second-quarter burst, giving the Lady Lobos the cushion they needed for a 56-37 win over the Greyhounds.
Although Lehman moved to 2-0 with the win, Coy was in no celebratory mood after the game.
“We just fell apart on offense,” she said. “We didn’t look for the open man. We were standing and watching on defense. They’re very athletic, but they didn’t rise to their potential. They can do better.”
In the third quarter, the Greyhounds began to chip away at the Lady Lobos’ lead when Lehman center Ariana Gallegos was elbowed in the face and came out of the game. Without the Lady Lobos’ 6-foot-2 center patrolling the paint, Boerne center Avery Queen was able to exploit the soft interior defense for 10 points from the post.
Gallegos returned with 40 seconds left in the third quarter, however, and Queen fouled out early in the fourth as Lehman put together a 19-9 run to close out the game. For the Lobos’ final points, forward Bria Cheatham stole a pass in the key, dribbled the entire length of the court and nailed a fade-away layup.
The Greyhounds’ Rachel Gregory answered with a layup at the buzzer.
Cheatham led the Lobos with 13 points, 11 rebounds and eight steals, while Gallegos finished with 11 points, six steals and 11 rebounds. Smith had 13 points and three assists.
Queen led the Greyhounds with 12 points.
In the team’s season opener on Nov. 8, the Lobos defeated Smithville 52-39. Cheatham paced Lehman with 20 points in that game, while Smith chipped in 7 and Gallegos added 6.
“We played more solid and not quite as sloppy” against Smithville, Coy said.