The Hays Lady Rebels secured their first win in district play after a double-double from senior forward Jada Finister led to a 19-point win over the Westlake Chaparrals Tuesday night in Bales Gym.
A dominant first quarter by the Lady Rebels on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball set the foundation for the entire game.
Hays early combination of high-pressure defense and efficient short-range shooting was a sharp contrast from Westlake’s lackluster and sloppy start.
“We dug ourselves a pretty deep hole,” Westlake head coach Katie Hensle said. “We’re a young team, we’re still figuring ourselves out.
After leading 18-5 to end the first frame, the Lady Rebels continued to expand on their lead in the second.
The short-range efficiency the Lady Rebels were exhibiting in the first quarter transformed into free-throw line efficiency in the second.
The refs were calling an extremely tight game, and in a half where both teams combined for 24 free throws – it’s important to knock them down.
Hays went 11-13 from the charity strike in the first half, while Westlake went 2-11.
This high percentage free-throw shooting has been a recent theme for the Lady Rebels. In a recent tournament, the team collectively shot 76 percent over the course of four games. For reference, there are currently 11 NBA teams that are shooting less than 76 percent as a team for the season.
“Making free throws tonight ended up being big for us,” Hays head coach Danny Preuss said. “Even though we’re fouling, they weren’t able to get many points off them.”
Although the Lady Chaparrals actually outscored Hays in the second half, the hole they had dug themselves proved too deep.
“I think our older girls in the second half stepped up and gave us some confidence and our younger kids followed,” said Hensle. “We’ll be fine, our kids will keep working hard.”
Although he said he was very proud of how his starters played, Preuss made a special point after the game congratulating the play of his bench tonight.
“I’ve been challenging my bench players all year long,” Preuss said. “I told them I needed them tonight and I had multiple girls come in and give me some good minutes tonight that we really needed.”
Preuss also was quick to admit that his team came out flat for the second half, and “always comes out flat.”
“We’re gonna start running during the last minute of halftime,” said Preuss. “We always come out of the locker room and stand around and we’re flat, and we can’t do that against these district opponents so we’re running during halftime now.”
The final score was 58-39.
The Lady Rebels are on the road for their next district matchup against their rivals the Lady Lobos of Lehman. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. in Lobo Gym.
