The Yorktown Kitty Kats entered the night leading district play and they built on that momentum on Jan. 2, hosting the Kenedy Leopards in a district matchup and rolling to a dominant 60–21 victory.
They finished the evening 3–0 in district action, improving their overall record to 15–8.
The game opened with a put-back layup by Gracie Stehling, setting the tone early for the Kitty Kats. Palyn Koopmann followed with a fast-break basket to make it 5– 0, then knocked down a three-pointer to extend the lead to 16–2. Paige DeLeon added a three at the 7:55 mark of the first half, assisted by Koopmann, pushing the score to 19– 2. Trinity Flores connected from beyond the arc on the next possession, continuing the Kats’ early surge.
Koopmann stayed hot from long range, sinking another three to give Yorktown a 30–8 advantage. Defensive pressure led to easy offense as well, highlighted by a Koopmann steal and assist to DeLeon for a fast-break layup at 6:38, making it 39– 8. Koopmann added another steal moments later that resulted in a layup, extending the lead to 42–13.
The Kats continued to capitalize on turnovers as DeLeon assisted Flores for a basket to make it 47–13, then DeLeon forced another loose ball that Flores converted on the break for a 49–13 lead. Claire Person capped off the run with strong defensive pressure, stealing the ball and finishing a fast-break layup to bring the team’s total to 51 points.
Yorktown’s defense set the tone all night, finishing with 53 rebounds, 19 assists, 16 steals, and 3 blocks. Stehling was also a defensive standout, anchoring the effort on both ends of the floor. As a team, the Kitty Kats shot 32 percent from the field, 53 percent from the free-throw line, and 27 percent from three-point range in the decisive district win.
Stats: Koopmann scored 25 points to lead all scorers. Stehling added 13 points, Flores finished with 12 points, DeLeon scored 8 points, and Person contributed 2 points.
