Lady Wildcats fall in Tuesday home opener to Merino Lady Rams

The Fleming Lady Wildcats competed in a short week of basketball action last week. They hosted the Merino Lady Rams last Tuesday before a cold snap postponed a scheduled home game against Kit Carson.

Fleming entered last Tuesday's match up at 2-1 with their only loss on the books to Haxtun. Merino came in at 0-3 with losses to Burlington, Sedgwick County and Holyoke.

The Lady Rams came out strong in the opening quarter of last week's non-league contest. Their offense put up 16 points in the first while the defense held the home team to four.

Merino added another set of double digits to their score in the second quarter with 14 and kept Fleming in single digits with eight. The Lady Rams held a solid 30-12 lead at the half.

The Lady Wildcats sought to flip the script in the third quarter when they outscored the Lady Rams 18-7 to bring the total tally to 37-30 with Merino still on top.

The Lady Rams played tough in the final quarter and sealed the win after adding 22 points to their side of the scoreboard and giving up just 16 to the home team. Merino took the victory, 59-46.

Senior Kendyl Kirkwood led her team in all categories for the contest. She scored 17 points for the Lady Wildcats. She earned 16 points off two-pointers from the field and went 100 percent from the free-throw line sinking one of one attempt.

Under the basket, Kirkwood brought down the team-high nine rebounds. She grabbed six offensive and three defensive boards.

Junior Whitney Chintala also added double digits on the Lady Wildcats' side of the scoreboard. She made two shots from behind the three-point arc for six points, three two-point shots and a free throw.

Freshman Madi Serrato followed Kirkwood in rebounds. She brought down one offensive and three defensive for a total of four boards in the game.

The Lady Wildcats were set to travel to Peetz for another mid-week Tuesday contest on Feb. 16. Results of that game were not available as of press time.

On Saturday, the team is scheduled to host the Prairie Lady Mustangs. Prairie stood at 1-4 following last week's action. Game time is set for 2 p.m. on Saturday.

On Monday, Feb. 22, a contest with Briggsdale is set to take place in Fleming. The Lady Falcons held an undefeated 7-0 record as of press time this week. Games are set to start at 2 p.m. that day.