BASKETBALL: Lady Mustangs persevere, fight for win

Things started rough for Nixon-Smiley on Tuesday, Nov. 16, at Falls City. However, after the team found its rhythm, the game ended with the second win of the season for the visiting Lady Mustangs, 53-47.

Falls City (0-2) came out seeking to establish physical dominance early and it showed when the Beaverettes took a 16-5 lead after one quarter of play.

Coach Jordan Estrada’s team didn’t panic, however, and outscored their opponents, 20-9, in the second period to tie the game at 25-25 at the break. Nixon-Smiley (2-1) didn’t let up, either in the third period, outscoring Falls City, 22-10, to take a 47-35 lead they would not relinquish, even though the Beaverettes outscored the Lady Mustangs, 12-6, in the final frame.

“We definitely had a rough start in the game last night against Falls City,” Estrada said. “They are a very physical, strong team that plays hard and we struggled to keep up the pace in the first quarter. It was good to see my girls really dig in and fight to come back from a pretty good size deficit.

“In our previous two games, we had the lead early and had to fight to keep it. This game allowed me to see my team from the other side of that battle. It was truly a team effort where everyone in the game contributed to what we were trying to accomplish.

“Obviously there are still things that we need to work on as a whole, but I'll take the effort that I saw from my girls in the second half every time,” Estrada added.

Leading scorers for the Lady Mustangs were Mady Velasquez and Greenlee Houseton, each with 13 points. Velasquez also had five rebounds, five steals, nine deflections and four assists, while Houseton had two rebounds, 15 deflections and four steals. Kendall Amaya had nine points, five rebounds, two steals and 11 deflections.

Other scorers were Madisyne Rice with eight points, Natalee Mendez and Abby Fox each had four and Mckaylah Filla had two points. Deanna Amaya led the team with seven rebounds.

The Lady Mustangs were set to play at Runge on Friday, Nov. 19.