No. 2 Ladycats take down No. 1 Throckmorton in district clash

There was hardly a single empty seat in the entire Newcastle gym as the No. 2 ranked Ladycats welcomed the top-ranked Throckmorton Lady Hounds for a district match-up this week.

Fans were rowdy long before the tip-off as a pair of teams with nearly identical records met Tuesday, Jan. 2 to see who deserved the higher ranking. Newcastle came into the game 17-1 on the season while Throckmorton boasted an 18-1 record.

What many may have expected to be a close battle, however, turned into yet another runaway victory for Newcastle as the Ladycats defended their home court and took down the No. 1 ranked Lady Hounds 54-30.

The clash between the top two teams in Class 1A was must-see basketball. The Lady Hounds jumped out to a fast start with four straight points, one of the baskets on a Newcastle turnover. Throckmorton seemed to catch the Ladycats by surprise at the start but it wasn’t long before Newcastle settled into a rhythm.

Mattie Dollar — who regularly leads Newcastle in scoring each game — got her team on the board after a hard drive for a layup at the rim. A minute later she got fouled and hit two free throws to tie the game up early.

The early four points were the first of an 11-0 run for the Ladycats as they went up 11-4 over the visiting Lady Hounds. Throckmorton closed the gap at the end of the quarter and the two teams were in a close game after eight minutes.

As has happened so many times this season, the second quarter is where Newcastle began to run away with the game. Dollar scored the first five points of the second quarter followed by two points from Camren Mallory.

Newcastle’s defense caused a number of problems for Throckmorton’s offense. The Lady Hounds liked to work the ball around the perimeter before driving inside for either a shot in the paint or a pass for an easy layup.

Mya Cabrera, one of the taller players on the team, often met Throckmorton’s guards in the lane and either blocked their shots or forced tough looks at the basket. The Lady Hounds occasionally found success this way but it wasn’t enough to keep up with Newcastle’s high-scoring offense.

Cabrera got in on the scoring as well with a basket in addition to Dollar, Mallory and Kenzie King. By halftime, the Ladycats held a comfortable 31-19 lead.

The third quarter was perhaps Newcastle’s most complete performance on both sides of the ball.

In the entire eight-minute quarter, the Ladycats outscored the Lady Hounds 15-3, with Throckmorton’s three points not coming until near the end of the period.

Newcastle continued to knock down shots from all around the court. It didn’t matter whether they were 3-pointers, mid-range jump shots or fast break layups, the Ladycats were firing on all cylinders.

Both teams slowed down a touch in the fourth quarter, but Newcastle kept pace with Throckmorton to keep the 24-point lead through the final frame to the end of the game. Dollar scored seven of the team’s eight points in the final quarter, with Cabrera providing the other point on a free throw.

When the final buzzer sounded, Newcastle had left no doubt in this match-up of high ranking powers who was the better team. Dollar finished the game with a double-double as she scored 33 points and pulled down 11 rebounds while contributing three assists.

Mallory finished second on the team in scoring with 10 points and had two assists. Cabrera pitched in 6 points, 10 rebounds and two assists while King had 5 points, two rebounds and three assists.

After a game Friday, Jan. 5 against Garner, the Ladycats will be on the road at Woodson for another district game Tuesday, Jan. 9.