NEW BRAUNFELS — The Smithville Lady Tigers’ extended stay in the playoffs came to an end Friday night.
Coming off its first playoff win since 2007, Smithville struggled to get a basket in the area playoff against San Antonio Sam Houston, falling 54-41 at New Braunfels Canyon High School.
“The bottom line is we did not shoot the ball well,” said head coach Robin Ramsay. “Our rebounding was also lacking in the first half – it got better in the second, but it wasn’t enough.”
Blakelee Saunders had an off night offensively, which ended up being just a piece of the Lady Tigers’ struggles.
Saunders’ only points came from one three-pointer.
“Blakelee was not in the game mentally,” Ramsay said.
The Lady Tigers were outscored 14-8 in the first quarter with Jaime Kadlecek scoring nine of her team-high 18 points.
Sam Houston was pounding Smithville on the boards for the entire game and took a 14-point lead into the locker room at halftime.
The third quarter was very low-scoring, with each team shutting each other out.
Kadlecek was the only player to score for Smithville in the third quarter, outscoring the Lady Canes 7-5.
The Lady Tigers tried to catch up in the fourth quarter, but it just wasn’t enough to overcome their 13-point deficit.
Colline Morrell had a standout game defensively and offensively with nine points.
Other scorers for Smithville were Magen Weinheimer (4), Taylor Homuth (2), Ariel Vinklarek (2), Maygan Washington (2) and Trina Deyo (1).