Lady Tigers still in chase

The Lady Tiger basketball team got their sixth district loss in a 53-40 final to Lexington on Friday evening.

“Honestly, we got off to the best start we’ve had all season,” said Meredith Caffey, Rockdale High School girl’s head basketball coach. “(Lexington) wasn’t expecting us to be in the full-court press and it was really effective in the first quarter.”

RHS got off to a fast start, leading 14-2 midway through the opening quarter and ending it with a 16-9 lead over a team they’d lost to twice this season.

In the second quarter, the Lady Eagles took advantage of foul trouble that forced Andrea Salazar and Amahjanee Valdez to go to the bench. Lexington took the lead 27-26 at halftime.

“Andrea’s who I’m usually dependent on when it comes to rebounding, and Amahjanee is really quick on both sides of the floor,” Caffey said. “So when I was without both of them for part of the quarter, Lexington was able to hit some critical shots that helped them take the lead at halftime.”

The game stayed close with the Lady Tigers trailing 40-36 at the end of the third quarter. The Lady Eagles took over in the fourth, outscoring Rockdale 13-4 to win the game 53-40.

“In the second half, Lexington was able to rebound very well,” Caffey said. “They got a lot of points off of their center pushing the ball down the floor to their point guard, who was already halfway down the court.”

Anna Harmon led Rockdale with 15 points and nine rebounds. Payton Miller had nine points with four rebounds and Miah Beckwith six points.

Earlier in the week, the Lady Tigers defeated Cameron 45-33 on the road. Harmon led the team on both ends of the court with 20 points, seven steals and four rebounds. Salazar had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Yarely Navarro and Miah Beckwith also contributed in their third district victory Rockdale with five and four points.

Rockdale is now 3-6 in District 19-3A and are two games behind Rogers for the final playoff spot.

The Lady Tigers faced McGregor on Tuesday after press time and host Little-River Academy, the second place team in their district that beat RHS 61-34 on Dec. 21, on Friday.

“There’s still an outside shot for us to make it,” Caffey said. “It’ll depend on how other teams in our district play, but there’s a chance if we keep playing well.”

Tip-off against the Lady Bees is at 6:15 p.m.

Tigers – The Tigers ended the first half of the District 19-3A schedule 0-7 with a 28-26 loss at home to Lexington.

LHS was able to jump ahead of Rockdale early in the game, leading 9-4 at the end of the first quarter. The Tigers outscored Lexington in the second to make the game 11-8 at halftime.

In the second half the two teams were neck-and-neck until RHS took the lead 19-17 at the end of the third quarter.

Rockdale held their own early in the fourth but struggled to make shots in the final three minutes after Lexington took the lead. The Eagles won 28-26.

Kelan Evans was Rock-dale’s leading scorer with 17 points. Zac Davis had three.

On Tuesday, The Tigers lost in a close game to Cameron 43-39 on the road. Rockdale stayed with their rivals early, trailing 22-20 at the end of the first half. The Yoemen created distance between them and the Tigers with a second half run, leading by as much as eight in the fourth quarter.

Rockdale fought back with a successful half-court press, knocking the Yoe’s lead down to two points in the final three minutes. It proved not to be enough as the other team from Milam County won 43-39.

Mason Monzingo led RHS with 11 points, and Davis had five.

Although winless in district play, four of the Tigers games were lost by four points or less. Three of those four district losses were by one possession including a 57-56 overtime loss to Troy, a 54-53 loss to McGregor and Friday’s two-point loss to Lexington.

Rockdale began the second round of district against McGregor on Tuesday after press time, and will host Little River-Academy 7:45 p.m., Friday.