The Pampa Lady Harvesters (15-9, 1-1) out-lasted the Borger Lady Bulldogs in a very physical district rivalry game on Tuesday night 38-32 at McNeely Field House.
The Lady Harvesters took a 10-point 19-9 lead into the locker rooms at half and by the end of the third quarter that lead had been cut to two at 24-22.
Pampa rallied late in the fourth quarter, scoring six unanswered points (four from free throws) in the final two minutes to put the Lady Bulldogs away 38-32.
“It (the message between third and fourth quarters) was to be confident,” Head Coach Jared Messer said. “Battle through it because district basketball is tough. Every single night is a battle. It doesn’t matter who or where you’re playing. Just stick together, play hard and have each others back and it’s (the win) going to happen for them.”
The Lady Harvesters got on the board at the 5:53 mark with a bucket from senior Tessa Rodriguez to tie the game at 2-2. From there a three from freshman Cambree Dyer and free throws from freshman Berlin Bartlett and junior Braelyn Sellers made it a two-score game at 7-2. A series of buckets from Bartlett, junior Ariel Lacher and Rodriguez led the Lady Harvesters on a 6-0 run to finish the quarter off and Pampa had the 13-4 lead.
Lacher hit a basket to start the second quarter off before Borger tried to close the gap with a bucket and a free throw. Junior Priscila Moreno hit a lay-up followed by a bucket from junior Rhoda Buckley a minute later and Pampa had 19-7 lead with 2:25 left in the half. Borger added a bucket before the end of the half and it was 19-9 at half.
Borger would not go away quietly as they came out of the locker room draining three baskets to make it a one-possession 19-16 game. Rodriguez and sophomore Katlyn Magers made it a two-possession 21-17 game again with buckets a minute apart. Pampa took at 24-22 lead into the third and Borger was playing hot.
“When you get people in foul trouble you have to start subbing and it goes away from your game-plan,” Messer said. “Sometimes there was some inconsistency a little in the physicality. It’s hard to tell the girls how to play but we battled through it and stayed the course throughout the game.”
Borger went on another 8-0 run to take the 25-24 fourth quarter lead before Bartlett and Buckley scored five unanswered for Pampa to make it 29-25 Pampa with around six minutes left in the in the game.
Borger got streaky again, taking the 31-30 lead before Lacher hit what would be the game-leading bucket to give Pampa the 32-31 1:20 left in the game.
“What’s special about her (Ariel Lacher) is she’s kind of accepted her role a little bit. She came off of the bench tonight as the sixth man after being someone who has started a lot of games. That’s why I put her there, to bring energy in. We needed a kick and she brings it to us. She’s played in a lot of big games and kind of used that experience to help the younger players, too.”
Magers and Bartlett went 4-6 in the free throw line to give Pampa the two-score 36-32 lead. A steal-and-score from Bartlett was the exclamation point in the game as Pampa went on to win 38-32.
The Lady Harvesters take the road Friday at Perryton as the Harvesters and Lady Harvesters start their double-headers. The Lady Harvesters will play at around 6 p.m. with the Harvesters to follow.
“Borger beat Perryton and I told the girls you can’t do score comparisons and think you will go win easily on Friday,” Messer said. “Perryton is a tough place to play. They are a physical team and they can shoot it. They’re always ready to play a good game.”
Stat Roundup
Berlin Bartlett led the team in scoring with 12 points and was 6-12 from the free throw line; Tessa Rodriguez and Ariel Lacher had six points; Katlyn Magers had four points and was 2-6 from the line; Cambree Dyer had a three-pointer; Priscila Moreno had two points and Braelyn Sellers was 1-2 in free throws.
As a team, Pampa shot 9-25 (36 percent) in free throws.
District Standings
Canyon 2-0
Hereford 1-1
Dumas 1-1
Pampa 1-1
Borger 1-1
Perryton 0-2
