Photos Courtesy of the team, Charla Shults, and Carter Pirtle
The Lady Harvesters (4-12) traveled to Brownfield over the past weekend for their final tune up before district play began on Tuesday night in Canyon. The team ended up with three wins to two losses. How did Head Coach Clint Watson feel the tournament went?
“This was a really good weekend for us. Our youngsters grew up and grew together. We are a close bunch right now and we need to stay that way. We played some tough teams and some teams that are bigger than us. This was a successful weekend for us, heading into district play. We played good defense throughout,” Watson said.
The first game of the Brownfield Tournament was against Portales, N.M. Pampa trailed 8-5 after the first quarter. The lead ballooned to 21-6 at halftime. It was 31-14 after three quarters. The final was Portales 41, Pampa 18.
“We got off to a slow start against Portales. Our defense was able to force a few early turnovers but we couldn’t capitalize off of them. We didn’t shoot the ball well early and that messed with our psyche. We limited ourselves to only one point in the 2nd quarter and that really hurt us, as we were unable to dig out of that hole,” Watson said.
The second game of the tournament was against Big Spring. The Lady Steers took a 12-11 lead after one quarter. It was a low-scoring second quarter for both teams with the score resting 16-13 at halftime. The Lady Harvesters were unable to get any scoring going in the third quarter as it was 27-13 after three quarters. The final score was Big Spring 42, Pampa 26.
“We played the 2nd game of the day against the Big Spring Lady Steers. It was close and competitive early on. But in the middle two quarters, we were only able to score two points. We didn’t shoot the ball too well throughout this game either,” Watson said.
After dropping the first two games of the tournament, the tides turned for Pampa in the final three games. The third game of the tournament was against Tahoka.
The Lady Harvesters stormed out of the gate to take a 17-2 lead after the first. At halftime, they built the lead to 27-9. After three, Pampa continued to build the lead to 38-15. The final score was Pampa 46, Tahoka 22.
“We came out super aggressive and stayed aggressive throughout. Our pressure forced 52 turnovers. All nine players scored in this game also,” Watson said.
Pampa faced off with Abilene High in the fourth game of the tournament looking to even their tournament record at two wins, two losses.
Pampa trailed 8-7 after the first quarter. The Lady Harvesters won the second quarter bigtime to take a 19-11 lead into the locker room. After three quarters, Pampa led by 20 at 36-16 and held Abilene to just five points in the quarter. The Lady Harvesters put a statement in the fourth to take the win 53-24. It was a big win.
“After a sluggish 1st quarter, our defense really stepped up. We limited Abilene to three points for the second quarter and our offense was able to knock down shots. We really took control early in the 3rd quarter. Our defense suffocated Abilene into many turnovers,” Watson said.
The final game of the tournament was against Fort Stockton. This would determine if the Lady Harvesters had a winning record overall or losing record for the weekend.
Pampa came out tired and flat and trailed 17-8 after the first quarter. They stormed some back in the second to trail just by seven at halftime, 27-20. The Lady Harvesters continued to claw back in it but would still trail 36-34 after three quarters. Sophomore Brooklyn Warren had a buzzer beater to win the game for the Lady Harvester 48-47! It was a huge comeback win for Pampa and capped off by a great play.
“We kind of had tired legs early in this game. Playing five games in two and a half days is tough. But give the girls credit, we fell down by 15 points early and they just kept chipping away. We played total team ball in this game. It came down to the wire. We made some clutch shots, Brooklyn scored four of her 15 points late in the game, including the game-winning buzzer beater! It helped that Fort Stockton missed some free throws late in the game and we were able to come around with the rebounds,” Watson said.
A good coach will always be looking for ways to improve and get better until the job is 100 percent finished at the end of the season. Where does Watson see the girls could improve heading into district play?
“I feel like our biggest area of improvement needs to be not starting slowly. Sometimes we like to feel out how the game will be played. I’d like to see us be way more aggressive from the tip. Again, I like where our chemistry/togetherness is right now,” Watson said.
The coach also gave a brief description/preview on the district gauntlet.
“Canyon—tradition-rich. They are the head of the group right now. Randall—Tough. They have some guards that play hard. West Plains—They will be playing in your face man to man defense. We have to handle their pressure. Hereford—Much improved. Their guards are gritty and can shoot it well. Dumas—smaller but scrappy. It’ll be a battle of who can be more scrappy in this game. Borger—Rivals. We have to be ready to play right from the jump. They have a couple of guards that are pretty good. Perryton—Hard-nosed. They won't back down and will be in your face defensively. I think we will be right in the thick of it. We are making strides at the right time. I expect us to make a push for the playoffs again this year,” Watson said.
Olivia Owens
Every article, we are going to showcase one player on the team. This week, that player is Junior Forward Olivia Owens.
“Olivia does a great job for us. She does a great job rebounding and playing defense, while also having the capability to knock down the 3 ball. She is a great teammate and is always super supportive. She plays hard and always does everything that I ask of her,” Watson said.
Stats v. Portales
Junior Addilynn Humphrey had a steal. Warren had four rebounds, one assist, and two steals. Junior Tamblynn Moss had eight points, three rebounds, one assist, and a steal. Owens had three points, two rebounds, and three steals. Sophomore Emmy Boutsamaly had two points, three rebounds, and three steals. Sophomore Nayelie Garcia had one point and one rebound. Sophomore Karsyn Brown had two points, five rebounds, and one steal. Sophomore Myla Zarate had one point, four rebounds, and one steal. Sophomore Madi Barton had one point and one steal.
The Lady Harvesters shot 10-17 from the free-throw line. They had 13 steals.
Stats v. Big Spring
Warren had four points, one rebound, one assist, and two steals. Moss had five points, three rebounds, and two steals. Owens had three rebounds and a steal. Boutsamaly had nine points, two three-pointers, two rebounds, and four steals. Garcia had one point and one rebound. Brown had four points, four rebounds, and one steal. Zarate had four rebounds, one assist, and a block. Barton had three points, one three-pointer, four assists, and four rebounds.
Pampa shot 5-8 on the free-throw line. They had 10 steals and one block. They made three three-pointers.
Stats v. Tahoka
Humphrey had eight points, six rebounds, one assist, and four steals. Warren had two points, three rebounds, one assist, and two steals. Moss had four points, four rebounds, and two assists. Owens had four points, eight rebounds, one assist, and four steals. Boutsamaly had eight points, four rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Garcia had two points, two rebounds, four steals, and a block. Brown had five points, two rebounds, one assist, and three steals. Zarate had three points, one three-pointer, seven rebounds, two assists, and five steals. Barton had 10 points, two three-pointers, four rebounds, one assist, and three steals.
The Lady Harvesters were 5-9 from the charity stripe. They had three three-points. They had 42 rebounds, 27 steals, 11 assists, and one block.
Stats v. Abilene High
Humphrey had three points, one three-pointer, two rebounds, two assists, four steals, and one block. Warren had five points, three rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Moss had 12 points, one three-pointer, four rebounds, one assist, three steals, and a block. Owens had two points, one rebound, one assist, and one steal. Boutsamaly had 17 points, one three-pointer, three rebounds, two assists, and three steals. Garcia had two rebounds and a steal. Brown had two points and two rebounds. Barton had 12 points, two three-pointers, five rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
Pampa had 26 rebounds, 16 steals, five three-pointers, and two blocks. They shot 12-19 from the free-throw line.
Stats v. Fort Stockton
Humphrey had 10 points, two three-pointers, three rebounds, and one assist. Warren had 13 points, one three-pointer, three rebounds, one assist, and two steals. Moss had four points, three rebounds, three assists, and one steal. Owens had one rebound. Boutsamaly had eight points, two three-pointers, five rebounds, and five steals. Brown had 11 points, nine rebounds, and five steals. Zarate had two points, eight rebounds, two assists, and one steal. Barton had one assist and one steal.
The Lady Harvesters shot 7-18 from the charity stripe. They had 37 rebounds, eight assists, five three-pointers, and 15 steals.
Upcoming Schedule
The Lady Harvesters opened up district play on Tuesday night against Canyon, the #1 ranked team in the State. The district slate doesn’t get any easier as West Plains comes to town on Friday night for their second district game, and first in McNeely Fieldhouse. That game will tip off at 6 p.m. Stay tuned for recaps on both those games next week!
