Back to back to back! Lady Cardinals punch tickets to regional tournament for third staright year

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  • Hermleigh players (l-r) Brittany Smith, Sarah Murphy and Rachaelle Smith celebrated as Makia Gonzales hoisted the trophy following the Lady Cardinals’ 43-31 win over Guthrie in the regional quarterfinals Monday. The Lady Cardinals will open play in the Regional Tournament at Abilene Christian University at 8:30 p.m. Friday.
    Hermleigh players (l-r) Brittany Smith, Sarah Murphy and Rachaelle Smith celebrated as Makia Gonzales hoisted the trophy following the Lady Cardinals’ 43-31 win over Guthrie in the regional quarterfinals Monday. The Lady Cardinals will open play in the Regional Tournament at Abilene Christian University at 8:30 p.m. Friday.
  • Hermleigh senior Ryleigh Benitez dribbled into the paint. Benitez made four 3-pointers in the win.
    Hermleigh senior Ryleigh Benitez dribbled into the paint. Benitez made four 3-pointers in the win.
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LUBBOCK — For the third straight year, the No.8 Hermleigh Lady Cardinals are headed to the regional basketball tournament.
On Monday, they defeated No. 25 Guthrie, 43-31 at Lubbock Roosevelt High School.
Seniors Makia Gonzales and Ryleigh Benitez made big contributions.
After Guthrie scored the game’s first two points of the game, Benitez scored and Gonzales drew a foul and converted the three-point play to put Hermleigh up 5-2.
The Lady Jaguars responded with a 3-pointer and the back and forth began.
The two teams were tied 7-7 heading into the final seconds of the first quarter, but Benitez nailed her first 3-pointer from the top of the key with 10 seconds left, putting the Lady Cardinals ahead 10-7.
That launched a Lady Cardinals’ 12-0 run, and a 19-7 lead, midway through the second quarter.
Benitez hit two more 3-pointers and Hermleigh built a 23-10 lead heading into the half.
The Lady Cardinals opened up the third quarter with a 3-pointer from junior Brittany Smith, but the Lady Jaguars quickly responded with a 3-pointer of their own. Both defenses stiffened and neither team scored for the next three minutes of play.
Benitez snapped the scoring drought with her fourth 3-pointer, and both offenses came back alive. Hermleigh outscored the Lady Jaguars 12-10 in the third quarter and held a 35-20 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Hermleigh scored the first points of the fourth quarter on a 3-pointer, but Guthrie went on an 8-0 run, cutting the Lady Cardinal lead to 10 points.
The Lady Cardinals answered.
Gonzales scored five points over the final three minutes to help her team close out the 43-31 victory.
The win is the Lady Cardinals’ 13th straight and they punched their tickets to the regional tournament for the third straight year.
The tournament will be played at Abilene Christian University and the Lady Cardinals will open the tournament against the winner of Water Valley and Blackwell.
The Lady Cardinals will play the winner at 8:30 p.m. Friday in Moody Coliseum.