How bout them #5 Lady Cubs knocking off the #1 undefeated defending state champs Shallowater Fillies in the Region I-3A Championship Game 50-45. “I’m very proud our team and they did what they were suppose to do.” Lady Cubs head coach Michelle Wyatt said after the huge upset win to earn the spot to play in the State Semifinal Game against Ponder.
Like all the other playoff games the Lady Cubs played in the post season, this game was close to the very end. Beginning in the 1st period, Shallowater would win the jump and get possession real quick and miss their first shot with Deja Johnson rebounding the ball. The Lady Cubs went down court and did the same. Shallowater retained possession off a defensive rebound, but through the ball away. Brownfield brought the ball down court and Lindsey Herrera struck first making a long 2 point jump shot. It didn’t take long for the #1 team in the state to place 2 points on the board. Brownfield turned the ball over and Shallowater drove in for a layup, but Deja fouled and Shallowater got 2 points from the charity stripe. Again the Lady Cubs would lose the ball and Shallowater capitalized on that by a 2 point layup and getting fouled by Herrera. Shallowater dropped the free-throw in and got the three point play the old fashion way. Brownfield regrouped and went on a quick 4-0 run with a Tia Johnson short jump shot and a Gabi Fields long jump shot. Shallowater led 7-6 with 2:30 left in the 1st. Shallowater turned the ball over, but the Lady Cubs did not gain anything out of it, instead Shallowaters #23 was fouled and placed two in the bucket. Next possession, Tia was found underneath and she put her two buckets in. #10 for Shallowater busted a 3 pointer. On the Lady Cubs next possession, Dabria Blackwell got fouled on shot. She put down two points from the line. Shallowater got the ball stolen from Blackwell, again she was fouled on a shot. She missed those two points. Shallowater led after the 1st quarter 12-10 in what was defensive period.
In the 2nd quarter, Brownfield was outscored 17-15. Shallowater’s #23 was quick to get to the foul line and add two more points to the board. Brownfield retained the possession and Ashley Ramirez had a nice assist to Tia where she got a 2 point layup. Shallowater then went to foul line one more time and dropped 2 points. The Lady Cubs brought the ball down and ran their play with Herrera dropping a 3 pointer, with Sghallowater leading 16-15 at the 6:50 mark. Shallowater then followed Herrera’s 3 pointer with one of their own. However Herrera was not done yet as she busted a long 2 point jump shot. The Lady Cubs stole the ball again, this time Bri Franco got fouled underneath but missed her shots. Fillies #23 got fouled by Blackwell where she got two more points from the line. Brownfield turned the ball over on their next possession allowing Shallowater to drop one from downtown. Deja then got fouled underneath and put both in, now Shallowater led 24-19 with three minutes left in the half. The Fillies took possession but was fouled and got 1 point from the line. The Lady Cubs went down court and Tia was fouled and she added two more points to the board. Shallowater placed a 2 pointer on their next possession, however Brownfield did thew same with a 2 point layup from Tia. Again, Brownfield forced a turnover from the Fillies and Herrera was fouled in paint. She was able to add 2 points. Shallowater had the last sho of the first half ending with the Fillies ahead 29-25.
Moving on to the 3rd quarter, the game became intense with competition. Right out of the gate the Lady Cubs went on 7-0 run with a Blackwell 3 pointer, a Fields long 2 point jump shot, and another Blackwell 2 point layup and creating the foul. Blackwell was unable to get the third point. The Lady Cubs got the ball back from a defensive rebound, however they would turn the ball over allowing Shallowater to drop a 3 pointer and tying the game 32-32. Herrera was able to get a long 2 point jump shot on their next possession. Shallowater then went on a 6-0 run by getting two foul shot in, a layup, and put-back. Shallowater now led 38-34 with 1:05 left in the 3rd. But, the Lady Cubs roared back on a quick 4-0 run with Fields placing a long 2 point jump shot in and a Tia 2 point layup. The game was tied 38 all going into the 4 quarter.
In the 4th quarter, the Lady Cubs defense stood their ground by allowing only seven points from the Fillies. Ramirez started the scoring in the 4th with a layup from a fast break. Brownfield forced another turnover where Blackwell would knock one down from downtown. The Lady Cubs now lead 43-38 with 6:10 left in the game. Shallowater then took a timeout to regroup. Once the Fillies got the ball, they would be fouled but put only 1 point on the board. All the sudden at the 5:34 mark, the lights and electricity went out for a few seconds. The officials allowed the Lady Cubs to retain possession. After about a five minute officials and coaches conversation about the big scoreboard not working, the game was started up again with the Lady Cubs inbounding the ball. They would set up their offense and take some time off the clock and Blackwell was able to get an open 3 pointer. Shallowater took the ball down court where the Lady Cubs got the defensive rebound and set up their offense again to take more time off the clock. Franco was handed the ball and score a quick layup. Brownfield led 48-39 with 3:57 left in the game. Shallowater then wasted no time capitalizing on Brownfield turning the ball over going on a 6-0 run. The lady Cubs still led 48-45 with 2:16 left. Coach Wyatt took a timeout at the 1:52 mark. Once the ball was inbounded the Lady Cubs stalled again playing keep away with the Fillies. Shallowater then forced a turnover, but they could not score off it. The Lady Cubs got possession again and Blackwell was fouled with 6 seconds left in the game. Of course Blackwell put both buckets in making the score 50-45. Shallowater would try a long 3 pointer, but missed it and the Lady Cubs come up with the huge win over the Fillies 50-45.
Post game, Coach Wyatt said, “Those guys are awesome (Shallowater), obviously they are undefeated on the year… they are the defending state champions. So this where we are trying to get this program to.” When asked about the second half verses the first Coach Wyatt said, “We always make adjustments at half-time. They do a really good job when we change our plan… we kinda just need to reset.”
The Lady Cubs had three players in double digits with Dabria Balckwell leading the team in scoring with 15 points, Tia Johnson with 12 points, Lindsey Herrera with 11 points. Rounding out the other scorers were Gabi Fields with six points, and Deja Johnson, Ashley Ramirez, & Bri Franco having two points each. The Lady Cubs are set to play #4 Ponder. Date, time and place TBA.
