By CLAIRE CRUZ, Staff Writer
LYFORD — The Lyford Lady Bulldogs picked up consecutive wins this weekend, capped by a 55-32 victory over Brownsville Jubilee on Saturday.
The Lady Bulldogs used a strong start to open a comfortable advantage, but what coach Teresa Gutierrez wanted to see from her team was improvement in their finish. Lyford responded to the challenge by holding the Lady Titans to 16 second-half points, never taking its foot off the pedal in a fast and physical contest.
“Last night, we had a really convincing lead against Raymondville, and we just didn’t finish in the fourth quarter,” Gutierrez said. “So, that was our focus in this second half, to make sure we finish. We put four quarters together and played well.”
Roster depth played a big factor in the game. Lyford had 10 different girls score, and several bench players made an impact on the floor. The Lady Titans, who were only playing their second game of the season, saw 17 of their 32 points come from Julissa Garza.
Garza and Alexis Robinson (seven points) were the battery that made Jubilee go in all facets of the game. They provided the energy offensively by driving hard to the basket despite solid defense from Lyford and led Jubilee’s defensive attack.
“They mean everything to the team, we play the way they play,” Jubilee coach Victor Venegas said. “If they have a bad game, we’re going to have a bad game, and if they’re good, we’re going to be good. They’ve been the leaders of this team since they were in middle school.”
Marley Perez’s rebounding and smooth shot gave Lyford a 15-7 lead after the first quarter. She showed off her ball-handling skills with a coast-to-coast layup after coming down with a defensive board, then hit a 3-pointer on the following possession. Damaris Bermudez contributed to the scoring, and Paola Salinas recorded a steal and cashed it in for a bucket to aid the Lady Bulldogs’ lead.
The speed of the game picked up drastically during the second quarter, and the Lady Titans cut into the lead behind their aggressive play. Jubilee’s defense swarmed to the ball to tie up Lyford’s ball-handlers and force a plethora of turnovers.
Robinson, Garza and Esther Lara led the defensive effort for Jubilee, and Mariahelga Garcia held down the paint. They held the Lady Bulldogs to their lowest offensive production in the frame, allowing only eight points. Lara displayed her potential with solid defense throughout the game and recorded a block in the fourth quarter.
“I think, overall, we did pretty good. It’s been a crazy year, tough year, and we’re kind of in a rebuilding mode, but moving forward we’ll be OK,” Venegas said. “I feel like we closed the game in the right way, moving forward for our next game. Our freshman (Lara) stepped it up in a huge way. I ask a lot of her, and with the way she plays and she strives for herself, I expect good things out of her.”
As the girls consistently drove hard to the basket, both teams took a lot of trips to the free throw line. Neither team shot particularly well from the charity stripe — Jubilee was 10-for-22 and Lyford shot 50 percent.
Though the free-throw shooting struggled, Lyford shot well from the field and had seven different players score during a big third quarter. Destiny Gonzalez was a force in the paint, dominating the boards on both sides of the court and contributing four points to a 13-0 scoring run that opened up Lyford’s largest lead of the game.
“(Destiny’s) doing a really good job coming off the bench for us,” Gutierrez said. “She’s our sixth man. She’s a lot more aggressive and a lot more physical than some of the other posts, so she always helps us out. She’s a really good rebounder also, she just has a nose for the ball.”
Jubilee trailed by 20 heading to the final quarter, but the Lady Titans didn’t stop pushing. Lara and Fernanda Melgarego dropped their first points of the game to help Jubilee cut into the lead.
But the Lady Bulldogs stayed focused and continued to play hard to get the win. Alyssa Garcia (nine points) and Sabrie Romo (seven points) were relentless on defense and rebounded well throughout the second half.
As Lyford dominated the boards, it made long passes down the court and fed teammates in the paint. Bermudez and Perez were Lyford’s top scorers with 13 and 10 points, respectively, and each hit two shots from behind the arc.
“We preach run the floor first. We’re getting better at running an offense, but we’re way better in the open floor,” Gutierrez said. “We teach everybody to run their proper lanes, go where they’re supposed to go and always look for the person ahead. We did really well on our press today, so it’s coming together.”