Lady Blue hold off Muleshoe

FARWELL - Rarely, if ever, has Farwell senior guard Presley Agee gone into halftime of a game with just two points.

Muleshoe girls coach Kim Chaffin said she had a feeling things might change when play resumed, and they did.

Agee poured in 22 of her 24 points in the final two stanzas, and the Lady Blue held off a furious Muleshoe comeback for a 57-51 victory on Friday night.

"I told my team at the half, 'She's about to go off,'" Chaffin said. "It's hard to shut down a kid like that who really wants to play."

Fortunately for the Lady Blue, Agee's mostly-younger teammates picked up the slack early, and Farwell carried a 24-20 lead into the intermission. She tallied 10 points in the third period and 12 in the fourth, including a go-ahead 3-pointer from the key with 3:27 remaining.

"I was struggling (the first half); I was angry at myself," Agee said. "But we had others who really stepped up. It was great."

The game turned into a shootout between Agee and Muleshoe junior Natalie Ambriz, who poured in 12 of her 31 points in the final stanza.

Down by 11, the Lady Mules (1-4) opened the final period on a 12-2 run, and tied it for just the second time with 3:50 to go. Agee's 3 - her third of the night - started a game-ending 11-5 run for the Lady Blue.

Agee has had to assume more of a leadership role this season with a younger cast around her.

"Last year, I had to step up, but we had four seniors playing," she said. "This is definitely a different thing for me."

Three others - senior Valeria Ruiz and sophomores Maryn Terry and Deavyn Bradley - all notched eight points for Farwell, with much of their scoring damage coming early.

"It always felt like they (Lady Mules) were breathing down our necks," Farwell coach Mikel Tucker said. "It wasn't always pretty, but both teams played hard and got after it."

Aaliyah Sanchez converted a 4-point play and Ambriz added a 3-point play in the first 42 seconds of the final period to pare Farwell's lead to 39-35. Both teams were under 50% from the foul line through three stanzas, but combined to shoot 17-for-19 in the fourth.

Agee said it was a good test for the Lady Blue.

"We're going to play some really good teams," she said. "We'll have a lot of games like this, and I'm confident we'll do well."

Meantime, the Lady Mules are trying to work around injuries to some key players on their roster. They were slated to host Lubbock Southcrest on Saturday afternoon.

"Our young kids are getting a lot of experience," Chaffin said. "We're going to take some bumps and bruises, but in the end I think it will make us better."

Muleshoe boys game postponed - Friday's scheduled boys game at Muleshoe between the Mules and Amherst was postponed to coronavirus concerns at Amherst, Mules coach Humberto Gonzalez said.

Meantime, Tuesday's home doubleheader against Seagraves was canceled for the same reason, Gonzalez said. The next action for both Muleshoe squads will be on Dec. 1 at Lockney.