Selfless basketball translated to victory for the Brenham Cubettes on Saturday against Morton Ranch.
The Cubettes earned a 42-36 win behind four fourth-quarter assists from freshman point guard Abygale Adams, who also led Brenham with 10 points.
Brenham (9-2) earned its fourth straight victory to match its season-best win streak. The Cubettes also held an opponent under 40 points for a third time this season.
“It is pretty good,” Brenham coach Brad Evans said of his team’s defensive effort. “I like low scoring games whenever we have more than the other team.”
Adams took over the final quarter with her vision. Her first fourth-quarter assist went to junior guard Daliyah Richard with 5:02 to play. Richard made a smooth layup to push the Cubettes to a 31-28 lead after Morton Ranch got to within a point after layups on two straight possessions.
Adams connected on a floater on the next Cubette possession to respond to another Lady Maverick layup.
After both teams exchanged misses from the field, Adams found junior forward Sandra Prieto from across the court. Prieto made the open layup to give Brenham a 35-30 lead.
She scored four of her six points in the final period and was “feeling good” throughout the finishing stretch.
Adams made another good pass to Richard that led to a layup and a 7-point lead with 2:49 to play. Richard’s second fourth-quarter layup completed a four-point afternoon.
Morton Ranch (5-9) tried to come back, pulling within four points with under two minutes to play.
But senior forward Antyiahna Lang made a jumper from just beyond the free throw line to push Brenham’s lead back up to six points with 1:26 remaining. She got the ball from Adams, who drove to the free throw line before making the pass to Lang while jumping.
“I was just making sure I was seeing the whole floor because I knew they were open,” Adams said.
She later completed a drive to the basket by finishing a smooth layup with 52 seconds to play, giving Brenham its largest lead of the game at 41-33.
Adams finished the Cubette scoring by making one of two at the free throw line with 10.3 seconds to go.
“Everything was a little cloudy earlier because nobody was really moving,” Evans said. “We run our lanes … and whenever she is coming down the court, we are already ready for a pass, so nobody is caught off guard, so it is a lot easier to see and play and run when everybody is clicking on all cylinders.”
Prior to Adams’ fourth-quarter assists, senior guard Ja’laya Pettus made a 3-pointer with 7:21 left to open the quarter’s scoring and break a 24-all tie. The basket accounted for her only points of the game while also giving the Cubettes a lead they never surrendered.
“I need her to know that I have not seen a lot of people who can stay in front of her,” Evans said. “I think she is starting to get in a better rhythm than what she was.”
Brenham’s fourth-quarter effort came after the Cubettes and the Mavericks exchanged slower possessions in the first half. Morton Ranch took a 19-14 lead into halftime after finishing the second quarter on a 10-2 spurt.
A slower pace of play along with high pressure from the Maverick defense threw Brenham off its game before halftime.
“When they were pressing, we were not prepared for it,” Prieto said.
Adams led the Cubettes with five first-half points, but five other Cubettes also got on the scoresheet before halftime. Senior guard Carmen McWilliams earned three of her five points in the first quarter.
Lang made two of her four free throw attempts in the first half before scoring six second-half points. Senior forward Amirah Byrd added her only point of the game on a free throw in the second quarter.
Brenham set itself up for the fourth quarter by allowing just five third-quarter points defensively.
“I want our defense to be a staple,” Evans said. “I want us to be known as a defensive juggernaut.”
Adams said the Cubettes have plenty to work on in the week ahead, though, with defensive points of emphasis on her team’s areas of improvement. She mentioned communication on defense, rebounding and running.
Brenham returns to action at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday against Waller at the Brenham High School gym.
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