Progress shown despite district loss

WAELDER — The young Waelder Lady Wildcats found themselves in a familiar place, losing a District 30-1A game after going down big in the first half. Their 53-11 loss against Dime Box last Friday represented the struggles the Lady Cats have had all season.

But even with the loss, Waelder head coach Rachel Tucker believes the progress being made this late in the season can roll over to next year and the program will be better for it.

“I’m really proud of them,” Tucker said of her current players. “For as few people as we had, and we’ve had some bumps in the road over the last few days, this season has been a nonstop up down up down up down. Our adversity is at an all-time high, it seems, right now. I think if we can get through this season and get into the offseason, get stronger, learn a little bit more, I think next year will be a good year for us. I’m really proud of the ones that stuck it out, they show up every day, they are really trying to let me coach them. I’m hopeful for the next few games and going further in the future.”

Dime Box opened the game with a 14-0 first quarter advantage over the Lady Wildcats. Waelder’s first point was midway in the second quarter, a converted free throw by Maely Bracamontes. After a tough first three quarters, Waelder scored nine of their 11 points in the fourth quarter, an improvement from their first district matchup. Leading in scoring was Elizabeth Ramos with three points. Bracamontes, Yessiah Ramos, Paulina Rangel and Susana Yanez each added two points.

“We played them way better this time than we did the first time,” Tucker noted. “I just feel like we seem to be a second half team, we’ve done that all year.”

The focus for Waelder now is to continue to gain experience for a team full of first-time varsity players. The Lady Wildcats have plenty of positives, including their speed and defensive efforts. For Tucker, it’s just a matter of limiting their turnovers, getting better with their rebounds and their overall offensive output.

“Obviously we can’t get in double digits sometimes,” Tucker admitted. “We’ve been shooting a lot more, [but] in the first half we had [shots go] in and out. Hopefully in the future we can get some of those to stay in.”

The Lady Cats lost on Tuesday against Prairie Lea 54-15. The team travels to take on Round Top-Carmine on Friday before traveling to Moulton next Tuesday to continue district play.