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Ira’s Sierra Welch attempts a lay-up against Sierra Blanca during Friday’s game. Welch scored seven points in the Lady Bulldogs’ 57-32 win.
KERMIT — The Ira Lady Bulldogs got off to a fast start en route to a 57-32 win over Sierra Blanca in a Class 1A area basketball playoff game Friday.
Ira, which had not played for one week, started the game on a 16-0 scoring run and never trailed. The Lady Bulldogs (26-6) advanced to play Klondike (22-6) in the Region 2-1A quarterfinals at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Lamesa. Klondike beat Rankin 56-30.
“I’m very happy how we came out and started the game,” Ira head coach Eric Simonds said. “We shut them out for most of the first quarter. It was good to see how well we played defense and had stops. We did a good job of pushing the ball and got the lead. That always make things a little more comfortable.”
The early run started with Sierra Welch’s 3-pointer. Madison Peterson followed with a three-point play while Alyssa Goodwin made four free throws and a field goal. Welch added two free throws and Lexie Hanshew made a field goal as Ira took a 16-2 lead into the second quarter.
Ira outscored Sierra Blanca 16-5 in the second quarter to take a 32-7 halftime lead. The Lady Bulldogs led 44-18 going into the fourth quarter.
“It’s tough to stay intense and keep the energy high when you get that big of a lead,” Simonds said. “We had a problem with that during the second half. We don’t want to get complacent. We still have to play with discipline and keep doing the little things when a game gets like that. It was a good win.”
Goodwin led a balanced scoring attack with 10 points. Karina Cowan had nine points, all on 3-pointers, and Peterson added eight points. Welch had seven points.
Jayme Penalosa scored 14 points for the Lady Vaqueros while Megan Moore had 12 points.
“It took time to get back into a rhythm after not playing for a week,” Simonds said. “We could have taken better care of the basketball. We didn’t do a good job at times defending drives. It was just a few little things, but part of it was because of the score and our intensity dropped in the second half.”
Ira and Klondike are no strangers in the playoffs. Klondike has won the last two meetings — 43-41 in 2015 and 43-35 last season.
“Klondike has been a tough game and we want to win this year,” Simonds said. “It has been a long time since Ira advanced this far in the playoffs. We are very familiar with Klondike and either of the games could had went either way. I’m hoping we are due for a win against Klondike.”
Sierra Blanca 2 5 11 14—32
Ira 16 16 12 13—57
Sierra Blanca scorers — Jayme Penalosa 14, Megan Moore 12, Anna Manriquez 2, Brianna Marquez 2, Blaine Gray 2.
Ira scorers — Alyssa Goodwin 10, Karina Cowan 9, Madison Peterson 8, Sierra Welch 7, Emily McCowen 5, Lexie Hanshew 4, Breauna Hall 4, Lindsay Womack 3, Ainsley Manning 3, Alyssa Chavez 2, Abby Manning 2.