Mineral Wells Area News

Moore, Samples named All-Tourney

By DAVID MAY | Special to Mineral Wells Area News

FREDRICKSBURG – The Mineral Wells Lady Rams traveled deep into Texas Hill Country and returned with three wins and two players named all-tournament.

Mineral Wells (11-5) bounced back nicely from two straight losses to claim three wins in four games at the three-day Battlin’ Billie Classic in Fredricksburg. The Lady Rams recorded wins over Odessa, Lampasas and Marion. Their only loss was to Texas Association of Basketball Coaches Top 25 host team Fredricksburg.

Guards Addyson Moore, a junior, and senior Kahlea Samples were named to the All-Tournament Team.

Here is a tournament rundown:

Thursday

Mineral Wells tamed the Odessa Lady Bronchos, 37-30, on Day One of the tourney. Odessa (4-12) tried to stay in the game by forcing the Lady Rams to make free throws down the stretch – which is exactly what Mineral Wells did to secure the win.

Samples and Moore led the way for Mineral Wells, canning 13 and 11 points, respectively. Samples dished out nine dimes, just missing a double-double effort.

Moore was 6-of-9 from the free throw line and Samples went 6-of-8 from the charity stripe.

Junior post Emery Boswell grabbed 11 rebounds, nine of those cleaned off the defensive glass.

The game was tied at 10 points apiece after the opening frame, with Mineral Wells able to take a 19-14 lead into intermission. Odessa trailed by just four points after three quarters, but the Lady Rams posted an 11-8 final period to secure the win.

Friday

Friday was a double-header day for teams in the tourney. The first one was a tough one for Mineral Wells, drawing host team Fredricksburg.

Both teams came out firing, with the Lady Billies on top, 14-12, after the first period. The second quarter doomed the Lady Rams as Fredricksburg outgunned Mineral Wells, 18-3, to take a commanding lead into halftime.

Mineral Wells was then outscored 24-12 in the second half, sending them to a 56-27 loss.

Samples dropped 14 points, going 5-of-6 from the free-throw line. As a team, Mineral Wells shot just 27 percent from the field and turned the ball over 17 times while forcing just six Lady Billies turnovers.

Mineral Wells didn’t dwell on the defeat, coming back in the nightcap to badger the Lampasas Lady Badgers into submission, winning 50-42.

Samples got her double-double, canning 20 points, including nine on three made shots from behind the arc, while clearing 11 rebounds. She also picked up five of the team’s 14 steals. Samples went 5-of-7 at the stripe.

Jaylee Newman dropped in eight and Moore and Maci Ruelas added seven points each. Boswell again recorded double-digit rebounds with 10.

Mineral Wells shot 43 percent from the floor and 71 percent at the line. They also knocked down six of their 17 three-point shots.

It was a tight contest throughout. Mineral Wells jumped out to a 12-6 lead before Lampasas (5-8) made it a four-point affair at halftime, 26-22. The Lady Rams were able to maintain their scoring edge in the second half to take the victory.

Saturday

Mineral Wells closed out their tournament action with a 51-32 win Saturday morning over the Marion Lady Bulldogs (2-11).

Moore dropped three treys and finished with 19 points. Sophomore guard Aniyah Richardson added 14 points, with Samples scoring eight points. Junior Jaylee Newman chipped in six points in the winning effort.

Next Up

The Lady Rams will next travel to Lorena on Tuesday to take on the 12-3 Lorena Leopards, ranked in the TABC Top 25 coaches poll. Tipoff is set for 6:15 p.m.