Pampa starts fast, pulls away late in crucial win over Hereford
PAMPA — Five blocks from Katlyn Magers. Some big shots by Rhoda Buckley. A pair of triples from Cambree Dyer. All of that helped give the Pampa girls basketball team a five-point edge over Hereford with 1:24 left on the clock Wednesday night.
It was Berlin Bartlett's clutch shooting at the foul line that put the game out of reach, though.
Bartlett made big plays throughout the night as she finished with 18 points and nine steals, but she was at her best when making four key free throws in the final 80 seconds of the game to ensure the 42-34 victory for the Lady Harvesters in District 4-4A action.
"Our sophomore captain stepped up big time," Pampa coach Clint Watson said of Bartlett. "One thing we've been teaching all year is to play through contact and fight until the final buzzer as hard as you can for 32 minutes. We control our attitude and we control our effort and we just go play."
It was an exciting contest for the Lady Harvesters (16-11, 5-5), who returned to .500 in district play with the triumph.
Pampa jumped out to a 9-3 lead by the end of the first quarter and it grew to 18-8 before the Lady Whitefaces closed the first half on a 7-1 run to cut it to 19-15 entering the locker room. Hereford kept the momentum in the third quarter as Autumn Wilburn hit a turnaround jumper to get within two midway through the period.
Barlett answered Wilburns' triple with back-to-back layups to extend the lead back to six, but Sarhi Sanchez drained a three-pointer to cut the Lady Whitefaces deficit back to 23-20. Buckley sunk a jump shot to put Lady Harvesters up two possessions as they carried a 27-22 edge entering the final quarter of play.
Buckley came up huge in the final period, nailing a trey with 6:10 left before making three foul shots to put Pampa up 35-27. A layup by Bartlett put Pampa ahead by 10, but Hereford shaved the deficit to five on Mitzel Rodriguez's layup with 1:24 to go and setting up for late drama.
Bartlett stepped to the line late and made a quartet of free throws count en route to the victory for the Lady Harvesters. Buckley finished with 10 points for Pampa.
Rodriguez poured in 12 to lead Hereford (18-13, 6-4).
It was a critical victory for Pampa as it now ties West Plains at 5-5 in the district for fourth with Canyon in first (10-0), Randall in second (9-1) and Hereford in third. At this point of the season, all wins are must wins.
"Hereford came in at third place in our district and we needed this one to continue our hopes for postseason as long as we can," Watson said. "We've got four more (games) after this and this gives us momentum for our final four games. We've got to play hard."
Pampa's next contest will be Friday at Perryton, while Hereford hosts Dumas the same day. Both contests are scheduled to tip off at 6 p.m.
Hereford (18-13, 6-4)
Kyndal Blair 1-4, 0-0, 2; Sam Grajeda 0-3, 0-0, 0; Sarahi Sanchez 2-6, 2-4, 8; Azalea Alaniz 0-2, 0-2, 0; Arissa Alaniz 0-0, 2-4, 2; Aubrey Devlin 0-4, 0-0, 0; Autumn Wilburn 3-3, 0-0, 6; Mitzel Rodriguez 2-3, 8-12, 12; Lynzee Carbajal 1-4, 2-2, 4. Totals 9-29, 14-24, 34.
Pampa (16-11, 5-5)
Briley Daniels, 0-3, 1-3, 1; Cooper Hale 0-1, 0-0, 0 ; Berlin Bartlett 7-17, 4-5, 18; Katlyn Magers 2-5, 1-3, 5; Rhoda Buckley 3-9, 3-5, 10; Cambree Dyer 3-8, 0-0, 8.Totals 15-43, 9-16, 42.
Halftime — Pampa 19, Hereford 15.
3-Point Goals — Hereford 1 (Sarahi Sanchez); Pampa 3 (Cambree Dyer 2, Rhoda Buckley)
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Berlin Bartlett’ s clutch FTs aid Pampa in district win over Hereford
