The Aubrey Lady Chaparrals varsity basketball team earned its third district win of the season in a 40-29 road win over the Celina Lady Bobcats.
The two squads were evenly matched in the first half, going into the half tied 15-15, but the Lady Chaps’ defense smothered the Lady Bobcats in the second half, allowing Aubrey to take the win.
“We bounced back from a tough loss in overtime against Sanger Friday after having a 13-point lead, so I knew that it was going to be huge for us to come out tonight and respond, and they came out well in the first quarter,” said Nicole Black, Aubrey head girls basketball coach. “The second quarter was a little ugly. We struggled when Addy [Cagle] got in foul trouble, but they held on and then came out and played well in the second half. We've been talking a lot about coming out fast in the third quarter and finishing the game strong, and they did that tonight.”
The Lady Chaps hit the hardwood running and gunning, outscoring the Lady Bobcats 14-8 in the game’s opening period.
Despite Aubrey’s hot start, Celina recovered in the second quarter, going on a 7-1 scoring run to send the two teams into the half with the score tied 15-15.
The Lady Chaps’ offense found its footing again in the second half, going on a 10-6 run in the third quarter and retaking the lead 25-21 as the game entered the fourth quarter.
Aubrey’s defense smothered Celina in the game’s final period, holding the Lady Bobcats to 4 points in the quarter, while the Lady Chaps’ offense added 15 points to take the 40-29 win.
Junior point guard Aniyah Davis led Aubrey with 16 points, followed by senior guard Cagle, who finished with 11 points.
“We had good intensity, especially on defense, and that fed into offense,” Davis said. “That kept us calm and staying calm and helped us move the ball and find open shots around the court.”
Cagle said the rivalry between the two programs was the extra motivation the Lady Chaps needed to leave with the win.
“Knowing this may be our last time playing in the orange gym and how much we strongly dislike that color, we knew they were going to come out hard and that we needed to come out harder,” she said. “We relied on our defense tonight, and like Aniyah said, defense leads to offense, and we played well on that side of the ball tonight and shut down their offense.”
Black emphasized her hopes that the Lady Chaps can continue rolling after the win.
“We need to keep that momentum because we've got playoffs on our goal list,” she said. “That is a huge thing that we've been working for all year, and winning this game on the road was big for us. This is a hard gym to play in. [Celina] has a great crowd, and they play hard in their own gym. … We need the momentum because Van Alstyne is going to be tough as well, and we need to be ready. We needed to see that we can overcome some adversity, keep fighting and finish a game when we need to.”
The Lady Chaps’ next matchup is against the Van Alstyne Lady Panthers at 6:15 p.m. Friday in Aubrey.
