Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
FARWELL — It was another night, another stirring comeback for the Farwell girls basketball team.
This time, though, the Lady Blue weren’t able to get a victory.
Just a night after rallying to beat Claude in the Farwell Tournament semifinals at Farwell High School on Friday, the Lady Blue rallied from a halftime deficit against Littlefield in Saturday’s championship game, only to lose 52-49 to the Lady Wildcats.
Still, Farwell showed a lot of grit as it prepared to head back into regular-season and Texico Tournament action this week.
“We’re excited,” Farwell head coach Mikel Tucker said. “Teams like Claude and Littlefield, these are the games we wanted to play and get better. They tested us, and that’s what we want.”
“I’m really proud of our team,” Lady Blue senior center Ainsley Actkinson said. “We’ve been put in these situations a lot, and the way that we carry ourselves and the way that we fight back like we do is really unlike any other team I’ve been a part of.”
Farwell trailed 30-25 at halftime, but turned that around by starting the third quarter with an 8-2 surge. Farwell initially whittled it down to 30-28, then after Littlefield stretched its lead to 32-28, the Lady Blue got a layup from junior guard Presley Agee to close within two again.
With the score still 32-30 with less than five minutes to go in the third quarter, a steal by Farwell senior forward Paulina Rodriguez resulted in her driving toward the basket and drawing a foul. Rodriguez hit 1-of-2 from the line to bring Farwell within 32-31.
With 3:45 left in the third, senior guard Karson Barnes drove for a layup to give the Lady Blue their first lead of the half, 33-32.
The teams then played hot potato with the lead for the remainder of the third quarter. A turnaround by Littlefield’s Kaitlyn Edgemon gave the Lady Wildcats a 34-33 edge; an Agee runner in the lane made it 35-34 Lady Blue; and a left-elbow three from Sydnie Miller handed Littlefield a 37-35 advantage.
Agee tied it at 37 with a field goal, but before the third quarter ended, another left-elbow trey, this time from Bailey Jones, gave Littlefield a 40-37 lead to take into the fourth.
Littlefield maintained slight leads throughout most of the final period. The only time early in the fourth that the Lady Wildcats didn’t lead was less than a minute in, when Farwell tied the game at 42 on an Actkinson putback.
Littlefield, though, went back up on a pair of Edgemon free throws, and the Lady Wildcats led until less than three minutes remained in the fourth when Agee tied the game at 47 with a steal and basket. She was fouled on the play with 2:43 left in regulation, but the free throw wouldn’t drop, so Farwell did not take the lead. Not yet, anyway.
With 1:05 left in the fourth quarter, Rodriguez hit 1-of-2 from the stripe to put the Lady Blue ahead 48-47.
Edgemon hit 1-of-2 foul shots with 41.9 seconds left to tie the game at 48, and after Farwell couldn’t score and Littlefield regained possession, Miller was fouled with 13.5 seconds remaining, and she hit a pair of free throws to give the Lady Wildcats a 50-48 advantage.
After a Farwell timeout and inbound pass, Barnes was fouled with 12.5 seconds left, and because the Lady Blue were in the double bonus, Barnes went to the line for two.
Barnes’ first attempt spun and dropped off the basket. Her second shot was perfect, bringing Farwell within 50-49.
But, on the ensuing Littlefield possession, the Lady Wildcats were able to get the ball downcourt while avoiding being fouled. Nautica Espinoza went up and in with it, stretching Littlefield’s edge to 52-49 as seconds remained.
Farwell didn’t have much time to do anything, and time expired on the game and on the girls’ portion of the tournament.
“Overall it was a good experience for our girls,” Littlefield head coach Teddy Duncan said. “We start district play this week, so I think it’s huge for our confidence.”
“This is our fourth close game, like nail-biter down to the last plays of the game,” Tucker said. “And I just told the girls in the locker room, ‘I believe things happen for a reason, and we’re getting prepared for a moment, a big moment in the future.’ ... And those are the moments that we live for, that’s why we play the game. So we just want to get better for that moment when it comes.”
