Cowgirls win in district rematch against Cobras

By Millie Diaz
Sports Writer
Point guard Cowgirl Acajia Dickerson said her team played like sisters against Industrial on Tuesday night for the win in Vanderbilt, and she internally felt the push to be one of the instrumental pieces in getting the 43-41 victory. The first time the teams paired off this season Industrial won the game 50-39 on Jan. 6.
“I was focusing on leading my team, I’m the point guard, with Lexi (Reyes). We’re the control for us and we knew we were going to get the game or lose it. If we go fast, they go fast, if we get hyped, they get hyped,” she said.
In the first three quarters of the game both teams appeared to be evenly matched without either getting a score run. Edna led after the first quarter by one point, 9-8, and the Cobras led at halftime, 16-10.
The Cobras even kept their lead after the third quarter, 26-21.
Cowgirl Head Coach Ieasha Lee said the ball was not falling in for Edna in the beginning, but she told the team to keep playing through it and it would pay off.
“We started turning over the ball and missing free throws, it was hurting us and we were digging ourselves a hole that didn’t need to be there. The last quarter just started working for us. We’ve been in a funk shooting-wise and I’ve had girls staying after practice to get their shots up and I think it paid off. I keep telling them, ‘You keep working at it and its going to come.’”
In the fourth quarter both teams turned up the heat. Cobra Desiree Hill raised Industrial’s score three points before Cowgirl Lexi Reyes did the same for Edna and then hit a three-pointer for the cherry on top. The Cobras led by only one point with four minutes left after Cowgirl Ashley Soto sunk two free throws, 31-30.
Cobra Savhannah Kitchens was fouled and hit two free throws to give Industrial a three-point lead, but Cowgirl Ariana Jackson found the basket and closed the score gap once again with three minutes left in the game.
“It’s the 50/50 balls we need to work on: the rebounds, the rolling balls, a loose ball, stealing balls, or balls in the air. We need to work on getting to them faster.”
Dickerson evened the score to 33 all with a free throw, and then Keyshia Callis went up for an easy layup to give Edna the scoring edge with a 35-33 lead with two minutes left.
Dickerson, Ashley Soto, and Reyes widened their team’s lead to 40-34, and Cobra Kitchens grabbed a rebound and a free throws from a foul.
Edna led 41-38 with 15 seconds left in the game, and Callis was fouled and scored two free throws to give Edna their final 43 points.
Cobra Sarah Kusak hit a three-pointer at the final buzzer, but it brought her team’s score to only 41 points. She reflected on her team’s mistakes, and thoughts on what to do for Friday’s game. “In tonight’s game, I was thinking we needed to slow down and play our speed. We needed to work around the ball and feed our post position more. We weren’t blocking out, and didn’t defend when we should’ve.”
Kusak’s thoughts concurred with Cobra Head Coach Shannon Taylor. “We got out-hustled from some rebounds and gave up too many second shots, which also led to us being fouled too much. Bad foul trouble dictates some of the defense we could do, then when we had oppotunites to convert on the other end we didn’t take advantage.”
Dickerson was all smiles. “The win was a beautiful moment, for the first time I felt that my team came together and played as sisters and not teammates. I got to encourage my teammates, and we grew a bond tonight with this win, we were able to communicate with each other and get on each other when we needed to.”
Callis agreed and looked ahead to Edna’s game on Friday against Palacios. “We want to finish 5-0 in the second half of district, so we’re going to work hard for that win. We really wanted it tonight and finished off strong.”