Hays’ Jennifer Colonnetta (left) and Kamryn Kent try to put pressure defense on Alamo Heights during the Lady Rebs’ 41-38 home loss Friday night. Hays led 12-2, but poor shooting eventually did in the Lady Rebels. The Lehman girls saw their playoff hopes slip away with a loss at district-leading Canyon Friday. (photo by Cyndy Slovak-Barton)
by JASON GORDON
The Hays High girls basketball team jumped out to a 12-2 lead on Alamo Heights at Bales Gym Friday night but shooting woes ultimately did in the Lady Rebs in a 41-38 loss.
Alamo Heights, behind Jackie Cabello’s 18 points, rallied as the Mules were able to take advantage of Hays’ shooting woes. The Lady Rebs made only 7-of-30 shots in the first half and 6-of-23 in the second half.
“You’re not going to beat good teams shooting 24 percent from the floor,” Hays Head Coach Danny Preuss said. “I thought we actually played better tonight than we did when we beat Lehman on Tuesday, the baskets just weren’t falling for us.”
Hays tied the game with three minutes left on a Jordyne Dugger layup, but Heights slowly started to pull away and built a 38-32 lead. The Lady Rebs cut it to 38-35 on Nicole Alcantara’s 3-pointer with just over a minute left, and sliced it to 38-37 on another Dugger layup with 14 seconds left. But after two Cabello free throws made it a three-point game, Hays was forced to try a desperation heave from beyond half court that would have tied it, but it didn’t come close to hitting the rim.
In the first quarter, Lindsey McCurdy hit a 3-pointer and found Rachel Calabrese with a pass for a layup. Calabrese then made a traditional three-point play before Dugger and Jennifer Colonnetta made layups to give Hays its early 12-2 advantage.
Hays has clinched a playoff spot, but lost any hopes it had for second place by suffering a 47-37 defeat at Clemens Tuesday, which dropped the Lady Rebs’ district record to 6-5 with one game remaining at home against Lockhart Friday night. Hays is now in a battle with Alamo Heights to claim third place. The team that winds up fourth in District 27-4A will have to match up against undefeated and third-ranked San Antonio Brennan in the first round of the postseason.
The Lehman girls likely saw their playoff hopes dashed with a 68-53 loss at district-leading Canyon Friday night.
Lehman, which fell to 3-7 in District 27-4A action, trailed only 18-15 after one quarter of play, but the Cougarettes increased that advantage to 38-26 at the break.
Lehman outscored Canyon, which improved to 9-0 in 27-4A, 17-16 in the third quarter, but the Cougarettes pulled away in the final period with a 16-10 run.
Amara Smith had 21 points to lead Lehman and Ariana Gallegos finished with 14 points for the Lady Lobos. Chamaya Turner had 27 points for Canyon to lead all scorers.
The Lady Lobos play at Alamo Heights February 7 in their final game of the year. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
