Both the Aledo Bearcat and Ladycat basketball teams took the court Friday, Jan. 3, for more district action as each squad hosted Saginaw. The two teams mirrored each other’s success on the hardwood, walking away with a pair of blowout wins.
The Ladycats started the night off with a 51-19 demolition while the Bearcats ran away for a comfortable 70-44 victory.
In the girls contest, Aledo cranked up the intensity in the final two quarters to push the final margin of victory to 32 points during the waning days of the holidays.
“I was really pleased as the game went on. I feel like we lacked energy in the beginning – it’s hard to play a game in the middle of the day when you’re out of school,” Ladycats head coach Donnie Ott said. “We definitely picked up the energy in the second half to help us get a big lead.”
Furthermore, the Ladycats continued to shoot well from the free throw line, which has been a point of emphasis from Ott and his staff.
“We were 13 of 16 at the free throw line against Fossil Ridge, and we do a lot of drills in practice to simulate pressure free throws,” Ott said. “Hopefully that continues because that’s a big part of winning games.”
The win gave Aledo (14-10, 3-1) a key league victory that keeps the team in second place in the District 5-5A standings behind Brewer. Moving forward, Ott hopes to continue to tap into his team’s potential on both sides of the floor.
“We’ve got two big games left against Granbury and Azle coming here,” Ott said. “If we can win those games, it puts us in a really good position going into the second half of district play – we just need to clean up the little things and execute. We are ahead of where we need to be defensively and just need to catch up a little bit on offense.”
Junior post Tiara Butler, a move in from Virgina, collected plenty of postgame praise from Ott following the win. She led the team in scoring with 10 points while junior guard Elizabeth Griffin had nine. August Carlone and Kinley Elms recorded eight points apiece while Brooklyn Dempsey and Ella Isbell added six and five points, respectively.
Bearcats
Meanwhile, the Bearcats followed the girls game with their own blowout win. While head coach Brian Blackburn and the squad are eager to get back into the Tuesday-Friday routine of game play, Aledo’s first-year head coach said he has been pleased with his roster’s style of play and the conditioning it takes to play at such a breakneck pace.
“We’re pressing, playing fast, and I think the guys like that,” Blackburn said. “It took the guys a little bit to get in the right shape during the offseason, but when we tell the guys we are trying to score 70 or 80 points every game, that makes players want to buy in – they like to score.”
Aledo led comfortably throughout the game with many players firing on all cylinders in transition and defensively. Leading the charge was junior post Townes Van Huysen, who scored a game-high 25 points. The junior missed significant time last season from a broken hand and is now making the most of his opportunity this year.
“The thing about Townes is he’s hungry to get better,” Blackburn said. “Coach Jones, our varsity assistant, works with the posts and he sees how active Townes has been. Every good play he makes really builds his confidence. I think he was 10 of 11 from the field and just had a great game, but he puts in a lot of work and has the desire.”
The huge win gave Aledo its 19th win of the season as it sits atop the early District 5-5A standings at 3-0. Moving forward, Aledo will keep a narrow focus instead of dissecting the future possibilities and prospects of their season. Blackburn said he believes “anything can happen” for this squad.
Along with Van Huysen’s 25-point effort, senior guard Joaquin Pacheco poured in 13 points while his younger brother Enrique Pacheco scored nine. Bearcat sophomore Josiah Jenkins also contributed with eight points.
Both boys and girls subvarsity programs recorded program sweeps over Saginaw. The girls junior varsity and freshman teams picked up 60-16 and 50-6 wins, respectively. Meanwhile, the boys JV team won 62-59 and the freshman team recorded a 56-28 victory.
Up next, the Ladycats and Bearcats were in Granbury for another district doubleheader at press time. Both teams host Azle on Friday, Jan. 10, girls tipping off at 6:15 p.m. and the boys at 8.
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