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The B-team brought their A-game en route to a dominant victory.
Elgin Middle School’s eighth grade girls basketball squads hosted the Hutto Hippos on Thursday, Jan. 19. The B-team coasted to a 41-2 victory, and the A-team was defeated 52-18.
In the battle of B-teams, Rebecca Rice got the Wildcats on the board by converting a running bank shot. Rice scored again just before the first quarter expired, giving the Wildcats a 4-2 lead.
Elgin broke the game open in the second quarter. Buckets by Kiley Kyser, Mireya Sauceda, Alexia Perez and Rice propelled the Wildcats to a 14-2 advantage in the blink of an eye.
In addition to the offensive onslaught, the Wildcats executed a half-court press to perfection, preventing the Hippos from establishing any sort of rhythm offensively. Valeria Ramirez sank a jump shot towards the end of the half, giving the home team a comfortable 22-2 lead.
Rice, Perez and Sauceda continued to score in the third quarter, expanding their lead to 27. Sauceda made a smooth transition layup several minutes into the fourth quarter before drilling a 3-pointer, which was the icing on the cake. The Wildcats were hardly tested in their 39-point win.
The battle between A-teams ensued. Ta’Myra Walker converted a fast break layup for the game’s first points. She scored again on an offensive putback to give Elgin a 4-2 lead. However, the Hippos responded with a 10-1 scoring run to close out the quarter.
The Hippos turned great defense into offense, scoring a flurry of points off turnovers and expanding their lead to 24-5. Elgin’s Katelyn Anderson stopped the bleeding by knocking down a sweet jump shot at the top of the key. Emily Lugala scored shortly after, and the score was 28-9 at halftime.
Both defenses played well in the third quarter, but Hutto was able to extend their lead to 24. Grace Hagen sank multiple free throws down the stretch, as did Anderson. Andrea Castillo made a nifty shot in the final minutes, but the deficit was too great to overcome.
The eighth grade girls teams will travel to face Forbes on Thursday, Jan. 26, tipoff starting at 5:30 p.m.
