Lady Oilers edge Lady Cats 47-42

DAISETTA- In a back- and- forth game, it was the West Hardin Lady Oilers making just a couple more plays down the stretch to take the district opener over Hull-Daisetta 47-42 on Friday night at the Lady Cats gym.

Perhaps the play of the game was with West Hardin leading 45-42 and just :11 seconds left to play and senior Kenzie Schroeder shooting her second free throw with all her Lady Oilers teammates standing at the other end, Schroeder grabbed her own miss, and the Lady Cats were forced to foul her again.

This time Schroeder sank both free throws, and West Hardin returned to Saratoga with a 1-0 record in district.

H-D’s Vaquaylon Haskins returned from an ankle injury and scored a game-high 23 points, and Kaylei Armstrong, who was recognized before the game with a pre-game ceremony after scoring her 1,000th career point, finished with 13.

A’lise Mosley scored all of her game-high 12 points in the first half. Olivia Hashaw chipped in with 11.

The Lady Oilers jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead capped off by a three-pointer by Mosley. Haskins then went coast-to-coast for a bucket to cut the deficit to 8-4. Moments later, Haskins had a steal and score, and the Lady Cats trailed 9-8. Mosley answered with a make from downtown, and West Hardin led 12- 8 after the opening period.

West Hardin grew the lead in the second quarter to 21-12 as Kyndall Schroder scored on a drop step. After an H-D timeout, Haskins keyed a 6-0 run on a pair of steals and scores, and the Lady Cats were within 21-18 at the break.

West Hardin started the second half with a 9- 2 run to lead 30- 20 before H- D answered with an 8-0 run highlighted by a three- pointer by Haskins and a steal and score by Kaidyn Smith, and the deficit was down to 30-28. A few minutes later, it was Haskins gett ing another steal and scoring to tie the score at 32-apiece. Armstrong then gave the Lady Cats a 3534 with a three-pointer at the 6:05 mark of the fourth quarter. Trailing 38-36, West Hardin’s Kymber Dagle gave the Lady Oilers a 39-38 lead by nailing a three-pointer. H-D would have one last lead at 40-39 on an Armstrong drive and score with 2:28 remaining. The Lady Oilers then finished the game on an 8-2 run to take the five-point win.

West Hardin will travel to Evadale on Friday, while the Lady Cats will visit Sabine Pass.