By LORI VERMAAS | Special to the Herald
The Lyford Lady Bulldogs burned off the effects of the holiday break Thursday at their annual Holiday Classic tournament, running and pressing early in a 57-31 first-round victory over the Donna IDEA Lady Titans.
Concerned that her team had had five days off, Lyford coach Teresa Gutierrez wasn’t sure what performance she would get from her team, but thought it did “pretty well.”
“ We just needed to run, run, run,” she said. “I wanted to make sure I got them super tired in the beginning.”
Subbing every two minutes, the Lady Bulldogs pressed the entire first half, switching up a press every possession with a different press.
“ The kids choose the order. I don’t even have to tell them that,” Gutierrez added.
The strategy stymied the Lady Titans from the outset, with Lyford sprinting out to a 6-0 lead with less than 3 minutes gone before the Lady Titans rose to the challenge and tied the game at 13 early in the second.
But the Lady Bulldogs’ energetic style helped them regain the lead, one they did not relinquish. With nearly 5 minutes left before halftime, they initiated another run, this time of 9 points, which put them ahead by 10.
Then Sam Delgado, although plagued by inconsistent shooting most of the game, padded the lead with a couple of dynamic plays. After a clever steal, she scored a layup at 2:40 to make it 31-16 and then drove the ball on a near–coast-to-coast drive for another layup with 1:50 left to make it 33-16. Just before the half, she finished by adding a timely assist via a pinpoint pass to Sabri Romo, who made the layup to extend their lead to 35-17 at the midway point.
Suffering scoring droughts and multiple turnovers, the Lady Titans mustered only two points during the third quarter before stepping it up by adding 12 more in the fourth, narrowing the gap only slightly.
Lydia Torres led all Lady Titans scorers with eight points.
Kayleen May proved to be a tower of power in the middle for the Lady Bulldogs with 17 points. Alyssa Garcia and Dararias Bermudez added another eight points each.
Delgado, who finished with six points, twisted her ankle early in the fourth quarter and left the court. Gutierrez wasn’t sure of the severity of the injury but was hoping for the best.
The host Lady Bulldogs are aiming to earn entry into the Gold Bracket, which begins late Friday afternoon after pool play ends.
“ That’s the goal,” she said, highly aware that reaching it likely will involve a matchup against North Crawley, an upstate powerhouse.
“ They’re from Fort Worth and are a Nike Elite School, so everyone’s gunning to play against them.”