The Bandera Lady Bulldog Basketball team challenged the SWHS Lady Dragons at the BHS Competition Gym on Tuesday, Dec. 5.
While both teams were evenly matched, the Lady Dragons pulled away in the fourth quarter to win 33 to the Bulldogs’ 22.
The Lady Bulldogs started out ahead in the first and second quarters, but the Lady Dragons tied the game going into halftime.
The first quarter started out with a steal by junior Carly Serene. Bandera took the early lead as the Lady Dragons struggled with their shooting.
The Lady Bulldogs scored the first goal of the game at the 5-minute mark and followed it up with a three-point shot at 3:42 in the first quarter. Southwest made two foul shots and the score stood 5 for the Bulldogs to 2 for Southwest.
Taytum Moeller made a shot bringing the score to 7. Serene continued her aggressive play by batting away a SW rebound. SW finally found the goal with a close in two pointer to bring their score to 4 points.
Freshman Jessi Battle got a rebound under the basket. Kinlee Lawlis showed her skills by jumping for the rebound and batting it away from Southwest.
Carly Serene intercepted a Southwest pass and ended the quarter with the Bulldogs showing 7 and Southwest showing 4.
To start the second quarter, junior Kinlee Lawlis stole a Southwest pass but at the 6:36 mark, the Lady Dragons made a 3-point shot to tie the score at 7 all.
The Bulldogs put in a three-point shot to raise their score to 10. Brooklyn Grabs made a shot under the basket.
The Lady Dragons earned another three points at the foul line bringing their total to 10 to the Bulldogs’ 11. At the 4-minute mark in the second quarter, the Lady Dragons put in another 2 to put them ahead of the Bulldogs by one point.
Carly Serene and Kinlee Lawlis kept pounding away at the Lady Dragons showing excellent hustle. The two of them intercepted Southwest passes and stopped the Lady Dragons. The half ended with both teams at 13 points.
The Bulldogs and the Dragons came back from the half ready to rock and roll. Brooklyn Grabs went to the floor to fight a Lady Dragon for the ball.
The teams jockeyed for points and at the 4-minute mark, the Lady Dragons’ 3-point shooter stepped in and drilled a shot from the baseline. That brought the Dragons to 16 points.
Gabby Barrera made a shot from the key and the Bulldogs went up to 15 points. Barrera saw a spate of bad luck as most of her three-point shots swirled around the inside of the rim only to pop back out.
Only one Bulldog foul shot sank out of three opportunities bringing the Bulldog score to 16. The Dragons’ hottest shooter made a clutch three point shot and earned several points going to the foul line.
At the end of the third quarter, the Dragons led at 23 points to the Bulldogs’ 16 points.
The Lady Bulldogs came out to the fourth quarter determined to catch the Dragons. Jessi Battle put a two-point shot on the scoreboard and Gabby Barrera got her mojo back to sink a three.
Kinlee Lawlis really threw herself into the assault on the Dragons at their goal. At the midpoint of the 4th quarter, the Dragons put in a two making the score Dragons 28 to Bulldogs 22.
Gabby Barrera lit on fire and stole a Dragons’ pass. With several more foul shots by Southwest, the final score was Dragons 33 to Bulldogs 22.
Both teams played excellent defense, but shooting percentages were low. Had Barrera had better shooting luck, the Bulldogs would have won this game easily.
The Lady Bulldogs played in the Devine Tournament on Dec. 7-9. The Lady Bulldogs defeated the Navarro Lady Panthers, 43 to 41 on Dec. 7.
They went on to play the Devine Lady Warhorses on Dec. 8 but lost out 42 to 56. On Friday, Dec. 8, they dominated the Randolph Ro-Hawks by scoring 44 points to Randolph’s 39.
The Lady Bulldogs start district play against Boerne at Boerne on Friday, Dec. 15.
