The Yorktown Kitty Kats hosted the Pettus Lady Eagles in an exciting district matchup Tuesday, Feb. 10.
Paige DeLeon opened the scoring for Yorktown with an underneath basket offa cut, assisted by Palyn Koopmann, to make it 2-0. DeLeon followed with a strong drive to the basket, and Gracie Stehling added a putback score offan offensive rebound to give the Kats an early 6-2 lead.
After a strong start by Yorktown, Pettus battled back to tie the game at 6-6. Koopmann knocked down a free throw to regain the lead, and DeLeon extended it to 12-8 with three minutes remaining in the quarter. DeLeon then hit back-to-back shots to make it 1411. Pettus tied the game at 14 before Stehling grabbed a rebound and scored in the closing seconds. The Kats trailed 17--16 at the end of the first period despite a strong showing from DeLeon.
Koopmann opened the second quarter with a fast-break layup followed by a mid-range jumper. Yorktown continued to battle, including a drive-and-dish from Koopmann to Stehling, heading into halftime trailing 2822.
In the second half, Koopmann hit a three-pointer to spark the offense. Stehling was active inside, drawing fouls and converting at the line. Koopmann scored back-to-back baskets to keep the Kats within striking distance, and Stehling added another rebound and score with three minutes left in the third quarter.
Carleigh Goode set a key screen that allowed Koopmann to drive and dish to Stehling, cutting the deficit to one. Stehling added a free throw, and Koopmann tied the game at 37-37 with 42 seconds remaining in the third. In the final seconds of the quarter, Goode grabbed a rebound and Stehling scored to give Yorktown a 39-37 lead heading into the fourth.
The Kitty Kats carried that momentum into the final period. Goode scored to start the quarter, and Stehling added backto- back baskets. Trinity Flores came up with a steal that led to a fast-break layup by Koopmann, extending the lead to 47-42.
Stehling continued to dominate inside, and DeLeon—who started the game strong—added another basket to push the lead to 51-42. Both Stehling and DeLeon scored again down the stretch as the Kitty Kats secured a hard-fought 55-50 victory over the Lady Eagles.
Yorktown showed strong teamwork, rebounding effort, and balanced scoring to earn the district win.
