By CLAIRE CRUZ, Staff Writer
The shots didn’t fall Thursday night for the Lyford Lady Bulldogs as they battled Odem in the area round of the Class 3A girls basketball state playoffs.
Lyford’s season came to an end with a 52-22 loss in a contest the Lady Owls controlled from the start. Lady Bulldogs coach Teresa Gutierrez was proud of the effort from her young squad and thinks good things are ahead.
“I’m proud of what they did, I feel that we’re better than 20-some points, but we couldn’t hit anything,” Gutierrez said. “For us starting three sophomores, I think we’ll be OK. … The experience will help us out their next two years.”
The height advantage Odem had proved to be lethal and caused problems for Lyford on both sides of the ball. Senior Julisa Alcala and company monopolized the boards and outrebounded the Lady Bulldogs all night. Defensively, Odem shut down the paint, which caused Lyford to force some shots that often fell short.
The Lady Bulldogs struggled to maintain position under the basket defensively as Alcala and Kara Rodriguez muscled their way to the net. The pair of senior bigs dropped nine and 12 points, respectively, for the Lady Owls. Senior guard Hailey Salinas led all scorers with 16 points.
“I felt like the score doesn’t really show how the game was, because Lyford played hard,” Odem coach Roland Ramirez said. “(Julisa) helps us out in more ways than one. The guards stepped up tonight, too.”
Sophomore post Destiny Gonzalez was a catalyst off the bench and played a tough game for Lyford. She hit two 3-pointers to energize her squad after scoreless stretches and was a solid presence defensively.
“She’s been a spark for us, she does the little things, and when she comes in it’s instant offense,” Gutierrez said. “She’s not scared to bang with them down in the post, and I love a good post that’s physical, so I’m excited for her.”
Gonzalez and fellow post, senior Kayleen May, led Lyford with seven points each. May has played a big role for the Lady Bulldogs the past two seasons. Gutierrez called her a huge part of Lyford’s success and said she will be hard to replace. With tears in her eyes, May reflected on her career fondly and spoke about the impact she hopes she had.
“I just feel very blessed to have played with this group of girls. We’re honestly like a family, always there to pick each other up,” May said. “What I want to leave behind is just to always try, just do everything you can, because you’ll regret it if you don’t.”