It is hard writing my last write up of the season when I am not ready for it to end. The girls represented District 30 last night with Pirate Pride and fought hard but lost to Skidmore by 7 points, 42-35. We finished the first quarter and tied it 5-5. Going into halftime we were only down by 8, we talked about needing to come out in the third quarter big but only 2 points were scored by both teams. We outscored Skidmore in the fourth 11-8 but going flat in that third quarter was the game changer that went their way. Leading the Pirates was Senior Kiara Nixon with 12 points, she was our offensive leader all season stat wise. Senior Eleni Keith having the best game all around with 9 points and showing great leadership all year long. Junior Kylie Mask my all-time defensive player taking another defensive charge last night had 8 points. Senior Autumn Frias had 3 and played her best year of basketball for Lytle. Junior Abby Moreno off the bench sank 2 free throws and had a great year with the minutes she played. Junior Noelia Medina had 1 point but her effort was there all night contributing in other ways she transitioned playing down low so well this year. Freshmen Natalie Pacheco was the little spark plug off the bench that gave us great minutes on defense and her highlight would be the Rivalry game she stepped up and helped us with that victory. Junior Clarissa Ramos had some great defensive moments last night and became a better offensive threat this season. Junior Alex Naegelin grabbed some big rebounds for us in the paint during the game and improved so much from last year. Senior Camryn Martinez played great defense off the bench that created some steals for us in the 4th quarter her defense helped all season. Senior Cheyenne Vega has so much heart and her highlight was scoring in our last home game against Dilley.
This group came back from injuries early in the season and finally was all healthy and playing January 3rd. We came in 2nd in District that has not been accomplished since the group I had in 2013 and we won the Rivalry game against Natalia and brought home the trophy for the 4th year in a row. I am blessed that these 11 girls play for me, I never have to worry about discipline or grades they are truly the top-notch kids in Lytle. This year I actually have 5 seniors and I can say they will be truly missed with their leadership and have been in my program all 4 years, with the exception of Kiara that moved to Lytle last year. They gave it all for the program and gave up so many holidays for the love of the game. I have 6 girls returning next year and have a great 8th Grade group coming in so the future looks bright. I wish all 11 of these girls the best as they move on today to their next sport and all those coaches are blessed to be getting them.
I want to thank Coach Mason, Coach Tilley and Coach Jones. This honestly has been the best year for me seeing my coaching staff on the same page and the kids feeding off all our different personalities and positive energy. When your coaching staff is a united front the kids feed off of that and that is exactly why we had the success we had this year. I can never thank you guys enough or show my appreciation.
Thank you to everyone that supported us all year and all the great parents of these young ladies. Thank you to Jimmy Martinez for always being there for me during my long season taking care of all my needs, you are the best! Thanks to all the cafeteria ladies for the meals and always buying our athletic shirts. Thanks to Mrs. Constanzo, I know she gone but she saved me so many times. Thank you, Ada Tapia, for dealing with me during my season you're doing a great job! Thanks to the ladies at the Admin office that I deal with daily with all our needs. Go Pirates!
Good Luck to boys in the Playoffs!