Lady Blue holds off Littlefield

FARWELL — Farwell’s girls handled Littlefield in Saturday’s finals of the Farwell Invitational. Tuesday night, they were to get a quick return game with the Lady Wildcats.

Junior forward Charlie May Trimble hit four 3-pointers and scored 18 points as the Lady Blue turned back Littlefield 49-42. The rematch was slated for Littlefield.

Farwell (12-1), a winner of eight in a row, held the lead virtually all the way but had a tough time shaking the plucky Lady Wildcats (5-5).

“They’re a really good team,” Lady Blue coach Mikel Turner said of Littlefield. “I wasn’t shocked that it was a good game. We really had to play well down the stretch.”

Trimble scored 11 of her points in the first half, which ended with Farwell in front 24-20. Three-pointers by sophomore Chloee Whitten and junior Jaelyn Smith extended the margin to eight late in the third.

Littlefield closed to 39-36 with just over four minutes left, but the Lady Blue scored on five consecutive possessions over a two-minute span to keep Littlefield at bay.

“I thought we played good as a team tonight,” Trimble said. “It was really a team effort to get to the finish.”

Junior Madison McNeese scored 20 points for Littlefield, including eight in the final period to help keep it fairly close, but Farwell converted 8-of-10 from the free throw line in the closing moments, including 4-of-4 by Whitten.

“No. 12 (McNeese) is a heck of a player,” Tucker said. “It’s always nice when you make your free throws, especially in the fourth quarter.”

Trimble, one of the more experience players on a squad which includes no seniors and relies heavily on three freshmen, said it was good for her squad to get tested by the Lady Wildcats.

“It helps when we play good teams,” Trimble said. “It helps us a lot overall.”

In other final-round girls games on Saturday:

Sundown 56, Bovina 50 (third place) — The Fillies played Sundown tough except for the second quarter, where they were outscored 22-11 to fall behind by eight points at halftime.

Junior Shea Beadles had three 3-pointers and 23 points for the Roughettes (13-3), while senior Ana Hogan added 19. Bovina (8-5) was led by 19 points from junior Alyssa Martinez and 13 from senior Pilly Saenz.

Muleshoe 65, Texico 31 (fifth place) — Already leading by 17, the Lady Mules outscored Texico 21-3 in the third quarter and won going away.

Senior Kayla Soto knocked down three 3-pointers and scored 12 of her game-high 23 points in the third stanza. Muleshoe also got three 3s and 14 points from junior Kylie Hernandez and 10 points from senior Natalie Ambriz.

Meantime, the Lady Wolverines (1-4) were led by 20 points from junior guard Catelyn Breshears, including 10 in the second segment.