‘First of many’: spirits high for young Lady Bulldogs after first-ever playoff basketball game

‘First of many’: spirits high for young Lady Bulldogs after first-ever playoff basketball game News Staff Tue, 02/13/2024 - 18:29 Image

• From left, Harts Bluff’s Alexa Arzate, Kaitley Green and Kaylee Clay defend Como-Pickton’s Bella Romero during Monday’s playoff game. The Lady Bulldogs fell in the program’s first ever basketball playoff game but return eight of their nine players next season in the hopes of returning to the playoffs. TRIBUNE PHOTO / QUINTEN BOYD

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Harts Bluff girls’ basketball made their intentions known early on – not just for this season, but for the future – in the printing of their playoff shirts.

Their playoff slogan for their first ever playoff trip? “First of many.”

Someone had to be first and for the 2023-24 Harts Bluff Lady Bulldogs, it was this team, this time.

Harts Bluff played their first playoff game in girls’ basketball Monday night, taking on Como-Pickton at Chisum High School. With a decent crowd, including the Harts Bluff cheerleaders and the Bulldog varsity and junior varsity teams to cheer them on, the Lady Bulldogs looked to pick up the win in their first playoff game against a Como-Pickton team who needed double overtime to put Harts Bluff away back on Dec. 19.

Unfortunately, the Lady Eagles also remembered that game and fixed the mistakes they made in it for the rematch.

Como-Pickton started the game on a 17-0 run and maintained the lead, even as Harts Bluff battled back in the second half, as the Lady Eagles won the bi-district matchup, 51-25.

The Lady Eagles outscored Harts Bluff in the first half, 29-6, but Harts Bluff forced the Lady Eagles to go back into their press defense after outscoring Como- Pickton in the third, 12-4.

Yaretzi “YaYa” Sanchez led the Lady Bulldogs with eight points, including scoring Harts Bluff ’s first playoff points. Alexa Arzate added six, Jaci Caplinger finished with four and Allie Mayfield and Saray Prado each put in two.

Addi Monk led Como-Pickton with 15 points. Kati Calvillo added 14 and Maggie Brown put in 11.

Lady Bulldog Head Coach Harland Johns said he was proud and wasn’t surprised that his team never backed down in their first playoff trip.

“That’s the way we try to coach them – that it’s not about the score in some games, it’s about how you carry yourself, the attitude, the energy and the effort,” he said. “They definitely showed that (Monday). This team has had a lot of fight for the last two years and we have grown a lot as a team. It’s sad that we lost, but this season was even better than we expected. In every game, this team was competitive and worked hard no matter what the score was.”

Coach Johns said he was proud of the growth Sanchez has shown this season.

“We’ve challenged YaYa to play up to her potential and since the second half of district, she’s done that,” he said. “With the hard worker that she is, I know she’s just going to get stronger and continue to polish her game. She’s a presence and she’s getting there. It’s exciting to see.”

The Lady Bulldogs will return all but one player next season as senior Kaitley Green will be the first basketball player to graduate.

“Kaitley is our emotional leader, she’s our practice leader and she’s very good at it,” Coach Johns said. “She does everything to the best of her ability and she holds people accountable. She has helped each and every one of us grow. She cares about this program and her teammates and she will be missed. We all wish we would have had more time with her in the program, but we’ve been blessed with the time we’ve had with her.”

Coach Johns said he was happy with the season, but also that this was truly the “first of many.”

“I’m happy we finished second in district and made the playoffs,” he said. “This team earned it and we have a young junior high class seeing this journey. They know the expectations and know they have to hit the ground running. It’s not just this team or the varsity, but it’s the whole community. We start to get into the mindset that we can make playoffs and it affects everyone’s confidence. We had a lot of fans here, including our boys teams and a lot of junior high kids. It was an awesome experience.

“A lot of our girls run track so we’re going to work on getting faster. We’re going to play spring ball and summer ball to get more time with the ball in our hands and fix the small things. We will continue to be competitive every single day.”

The Lady Bulldogs finish the season 19-14 and 7-3 in district play. Team members were senior Kaitley Green; juniors Jaci Caplinger, Alexa Arzate and Allie Mayfield; sophomores Kaylee Clay, Yaretzi Sanchez and Saray Prado and freshmen Kaley Zaldivar and Paisley Bloomer.