By Ryan Mayner
The Lehman Lady Lobos had every off the court advantage Friday night when they hosted the Austin High Lady Maroons. It was senior night, the final home game of the year, and one of the largest crowds of the season was on hand.
But on the court, Austin High held all the cards in a 56-28 win.
Their guards, led by Senior Lexi Evans, stole the ball, slashed, penetrated and dished off. Meanwhile, their bigs got the layups, the rebounds and the blocks.
Maroons freshman center Mia Heide was easily the tallest person on the court at 6’2. Lobos power forward Raven Scott was her team’s tallest at 5’9.
Lehman head coach Jamie Coy said the team attempted to increase the tempo to make up for the size disadvantage.
“When we execute our transition offense, we do well, but it’s just making sure that people get to the right spots so that way we can make the ball move up the floor as quickly as possible through passing and less dribbling,” Coy said.
But it led to too many rushed shots and hurried passes early on. Austin led 17-1 at the end of the first quarter.
Senior guard Kayla Johnson’s free throw was Lehman’s only point until the first round of backups came off the bench in the second quarter, bringing a burst of energy with them.
Guard Daisy Carrizales took an assist from forward Starr River on a fast break and made a layup, spurring the Lobos on a 6-0 run. But closing Austin’s lead to 17-7 was as close as they could make it; Austin went on a 10-0 run and ended up leading 30-9 at the half.
Lehman was outscored in every quarter, but only 11-10 in the third. Senior Lauren Fowler kept her team in the game with a free throw, a two-pointer and a three-pointer in the quarter, and ended up leading the team in scoring with nine points overall and the only threes for the game.
Coy lauded the team’s play, but poor shooting doomed the Lobos. She said the team shot 15 percent from the field and 10 of 24 from the free throw line.
“We’re leaving a significant amount of points off the scoreboard, so that makes it difficult to win games that way,” Coy said.
Lehman will finish last in District 14-6A, Austin will finish in the middle of the pack.
Lehman has only won one district game all year, against Del Valle, and have lost its last nine in a row. The Lady Lobos finish out their season at #2 Westlake on Tuesday.
