By EDWARD SEVERN, Staff Writer
RAYMONDVILLE — The La Feria Lionettes picked up a 54-43 District 32-4A road win against the Raymondville Lady Bearkats on Friday.
The win by La Feria keeps it in the hunt for the district title. The Lionettes will face the undefeated, first-place Rio Hondo Lady Bobcats on Monday. Both the Lady Bobcats and the Lionettes have other district games during the week, so it should be interesting in 32-4A.
“We are getting ready, communicating, staying hydrated and just staying focused for next week,” Garza said.
Garza helped the Lionettes get off to a good start with six points from midrange to give La Feria an 8-2 lead.
“Those are my shots,” Garza said. “I feel like those are my favorite kind of shots, and for the most part when I shoot those, 90 percent are going in.”
The Lady Bearkats clawed back in the game and tied it at 12 with a great layup by Denae Hernandez. La Feria’s Rianna Gonzalez then hit a 3 to give the Lionettes the 15-12 lead after the first quarter.
Raymondville earned its first lead in the game after Amber Tamez finished acrobatically at the rim.
The Lionettes immediately responded, as Garza hit another midrange jumper and Jailah Carr finished off a fast break. Carr then flicked the wrist after swishing a 3 to put the Lionettes up 23-16, giving them their biggest lead of the game.
The Lionettes went into the half up 31-22.
Raymondville seniors Caitlynn Brooks and Za Leah Gardner’s quick buckets after the half cut the lead to five. Brooks and Gardner were active on both sides of the court throughout the game.
After another flurry by La Feria, Raymondville responded with back-to-back 3-pointers by Hernandez and Tamez, cutting the lead to 36-33.
La Feria closed out the game with a couple of minutes left in the fourth quarter. Gonzalez hit from deep, and Garza got open at the rim to extend the Lionettes’ lead to 11.
“We had a lot of turnovers, so that is something that we need to control more,” Lionettes coach Delia Lopez said. “Other than that, the girls hustled and played hard, the way they are supposed to.”
Garza finished with 19 points to lead the Lionettes, and Gonzalez added 12.