Maidens vying with Estacado for play-off positioning

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Kaitlin Harrison

Fending them off– Junior guard Havyn Perez brings the ball down on offense during district play with Denver City on Jan. 30. Perez had three points and three assists in the 55-33 loss to the Fillies.

The Maiden basketball team will face the Lamesa Tornadoes at 6:30 p.m. on Friday in the main gym in a must-win match up to avoid dropping to fourth behind Estacado.

The Maidens dropped a game to first place Denver City, 55-33, on Jan. 30, taking their overall record to 16-11 and 4-4 in district play.

“The kids did a good job of getting up there [in the third quarter against Denver City],” Coach Leland Bearden said. “They got flustered, and once the floodgates opened and parted, we couldn’t stop the flow.”

The Maidens will need to beat Lamesa in order to stay in a tie with Estacado.

“We just need to take Lamesa’s right hand away,” freshman forward Bretlei Dominguez said. “We need to make them go left.”

If the Maidens win against Lamesa, they then face Levelland in the final district game. If they beat Levelland, they would take third place, but if they lose to Levelland, they would face a tie breaker with the Lady Matadors.

“We just need to listen to Coach Bearden,” senior post Ashlea Pool said. ”We need to make sure we give effort, go out and have intensity.”

Team chemistry will need to become an asset.

“We are close to having good chemistry on the court,” Pool said, “but then we don’t because we are all hard-headed.”

Junior guard Taylor Harvey said she was going to work on her attitude and being a better teammate.

“My mouth gets me in trouble,” Harvey said. “I need to learn to be a better teammate and be uplifting and not put people down.”