In a battle for second place in District 20-3A, the Mexia Ladycats basketball team prevailed over the visiting Teague Lady Lions on Tuesday, Feb. 7. Mexia moved to 4-1 in district play by virtue of a 46-29 win. As for Teague, the Lady Lions dropped to third in the district with a mark of 3-2.
Points were at a premium to start the contest as neither offense could pull out in front by very much. With 20 seconds to go in the quarter, a pair of free throws from Mycah Miller gave Mexia a 7-4 edge. In the closing seconds, a three-pointer from Teague’s A’shaiya Jones tied things up at 7.
Teague held an early lead at the start of the next quarter. A transition layup from Jayci Phillips gave the Lady Lions an 11-7 lead. From there, Mexia went on a 9-0 run that was capped off by a Miller layup with less than three minutes to go in the half. Mexia led 18-13 with under a minute to go, but Teague’s Bethanah Owens banked in a long two-pointer in the closing seconds to cut Mexia’s lead to 18-15 at intermission.
The third quarter saw Mexia get off to a hot start with an 8-0 run. Teague called for time with 6:06 remaining, but it did little to extinguish the Ladycats’ momentum. Mexia took advantage of several Teague turnovers and converted them into easy baskets on the offensive end. Mexia won the quarter 15-3 and took a commanding 33-18 lead into the fourth.
The Ladycats extended their lead to as many as 23 in the final quarter at 44-21. However, Teague closed out the game on an 8-2 run to arrive at a 46-29 final score.
For Teague, Owens and Jones posted a team-high nine points apiece in defeat.
Miller led Mexia with 13 points. Haylee Fitch and Mariah Hall posted 12 points and 11 respectively in the Ladycats win.
Teague will host Elkhart on Friday evening at 6. Mexia will travel to Buffalo for a Friday night contest at 6.
Mexia’s Dec. 20 home contest against Elkhart that was stopped after the first half was declared an Elkhart forfeit. That game counts in the district standings as a win for the Ladycats.
