Lady Blue win rematch with Happy

In their second meeting of the season, Happy and Farwell had a complete reversal of fortune.

In the first matchup, a shorthanded Farwell squad lost at Happy by one point. On Friday, Happy had the injury problems and lost on Farwell’s court.

Dellani Jones and Brooke Lunsford had 14 points apiece to help the Lady Blue trounce Happy 53-23 in the semifinals of the Farwell Invitational Tournament.

“It’s an excellent win,” Farwell coach Doug Boyd said. “It felt pretty good to put it on ‘em tonight. They’re a good team. They’re not the same team that we played over there.”

In the first meeting, Boyd said, the Lady Blue were without two starters and two key reserves. Those players are back, and now the Cowgirls are dealing with injuries.

Perhaps the most significant injury happened during the game.

Happy’s Jennifer Johnson injured her shoulder diving for a ball on the last play of the third quarter. She had game-highs of 12 points and five rebounds when she went down. Without Johnson, Farwell outscored the Cowgirls 15-2 in the fourth period.

Happy coach Chris Marks said the injuries and Farwell’s effort were too much.

“When we beat them the first time we had our whole team,” Marks said. “Then obviously we had an injury tonight. We’re just short on healthy bodies and Farwell played really well. They got after us.”

The win puts the Lady Blue in the finals of the tournament against Friona, who defeated Texico 40-38 in overtime.

Farwell’s Britton Barrett said she likes her team’s chances in the finals.

“I think if we play really well like we have been in the past two games, I think it will be a really good game,” Barrett said. “It’d be awesome (to win the tournament) because it’s our tournament and the last two years we have been in the losers bracket.”