Fleming's Lady Cats earn 1st round bye

A 9-3 overall season-closing record, including last week’s wins over Lone Star and Akron, have earned the Fleming Lady Wildcats a round-one bye in post-season play and home court advantage for their Sweet 16 appearance on Thursday. Game time on Thursday had not been determined as of press time.

Last Friday’s game at Lone Star put two evenly matched teams on the court. The Lady Wildcats led for the duration of the game, but scores by quarter put them up by just four, five and three in quarters one through three. Their standout fourth quarter performance sealed the win after the offense added 13 and the defense held the Lady Longhorns to seven. Fleming took a 45-36 victory.

Junior Whitney Chintala led on Friday’s scoreboard with 16 points. She sunk a three-pointer, a free throw and six two-point buckets.

Senior Kendyl Kirkwood followed with 15 points. She shot 80 percent from the field knocking down four two-point shots and went 88 percent from the charity stripe to earn another seven points.

Kendyl Kirkwood led the team in rebounds with 17; giving her a double-double for the night. Her younger sister Kally, a sophomore on the team, followed with 16 boards.

Saturday’s match up with the Akron Lady Rams marked the final regular-season game for the Lady Wildcats. On their own home court, the Lady Wildcats grabbed an early seven-point lead in the first. Akron chipped one point off that lead in the second, but the home team offense bested Akron in the final two quarters and eventually took a 20-point win, 51-31.

Kendyl Kirkwood earned a double-double for the second consecutive night. She made seven two-point shots from the floor and shot 86 percent from the free-throw line after making good on six of seven attempts.

Under the basket, Kendyl brought down 24 boards. She grabbed eight offensive and 16 defensive rebounds.

Freshman Madi Serrato followed on the scoreboard with 10 points. She sunk two three-point shots, two free throws and a two-pointer.

In the number-six slot in the post-season bracket, the Fleming Lady Wildcats have been afforded a first-round bye. They will open post-season play on Thursday against the winner of a contest between number-11 ranked Simla and Longmont Christian, who enters as the 22nd seed. Results of that contest had not been determined as of press time on Tuesday.

A win on Thursday would put the Lady Wildcats up against number-three Sangre de Cristo, number 14 Elbert or number 19 Springfield on Saturday. Higher seeded teams are given home-court advantage throughout the opening rounds of the single-elimination tournament.