Published: November 03, 2009 09:32 pm      

Lady Bears clip Goose Creek in 4

BEAUMONT — Using veteran leadership, the Little Cypress-Mauricevile Lady Bears took down a young Goose Creek Memorial squad 25-10, 25-13, 22-25, 25-16 in the Class 4A Region III bidistrict playoffs at Lamar University’s McDonald Gym.

The District 20-4A champion Lady Bears (32-7), powered by the smashes of senior Christine Sicktich and the tough serving by senior Elissa Tate, easily won the first two games.

The Lady Patriots (16-20), the fourth-place unit out of District 19-4A, fought back hard in Game Three thanks to the hitting of their lone senior Ariel Reitmeier but they finally ran out of steam late in Game Four.

Sicktich muscled her way to a match-high 20 kills while the Lady Bears always seemed to have the hot hand when Tate served.

Tate served up 23 points and two aces.

“I’m so thrilled for the kids,” said Lady Bear coach Vicki Castino. “They wanted to come out early and make a statement and they did. I thought we relaxed a little in the third game and you can’t do that against good teams and Goose Creek made us pay. I told the kids to put this thing away in that fourth game and they did early. Give Goose Creek credit for coming back. Our kids just made the big plays when they counted there at the end.”

It was a sweet victory for LC-M, which lost to Dayton in the first round last year.

“It’s a tremendous feeling,” said Tate. “We wanted to come out and play well from the start and we did that. Give Goose Creek credit, they never gave up. We rose up at the end when we had too.”

Ashton LaVergne had six kills for the Lady Bears while Tate, Shelby Apperson and Megan Kemp all had five while Amy Laughlin contributed four.

The Lady Bears also received tremendous defense from Shelby Sanchez, Kellie Tilley and Kalyn Harkness all played excellent defense and set up the offense well.

“Sicktich and Tate both had wonderful matches tonight but they’ll be the first to tell you it was a total team effort,” said Castino. “That’s what has been so special about this team all year long, they play so well together.”

“We really gel together well as a team,” said Tate. “We always know where everyone is at on the court and we communicate so well. Last year, we lost in the first round. This time around we were determined not to let that happen again.”

Tilley served up 11 points and had three aces. Sicktich had 10 points and three aces. Harkness had nine points while Allison Walker added six points and two aces.

The Lady Bear win offset a superb performance by Lady Patriot Reitmeier, who bullied her way to 18 kills. Canna Chinked had eight kills to go along with 11 points and an ace. Karma Hanchey, Jenna Jackson, Erika Hernandez and Reitmeier all had for service points for the Lady Patriots. Jackson, Chelsea Wells and Tyra Thomas all had two kills.

“Goose Creeek kept coming at us,” said Castino. “They never gave up. They’re such a young team, one that has a great future.”

The Lady Bears jumped out to a 7-1 advantage in Game One and never looked back. Tate served up the last seven points of the game while Sicktich and Laughlin combined for eight kills in the game.

LC-M once again raced out to a 7-1 lead in Game Two and never looked back with Sicktich pounding out six kills in the game.

The Lady Patriots stormed out to a 9-3 cushion in Game Three as Reitmeier and Chinked found the hot hand early and often.

LC-M rallied all the way back to within 22-21 but the Lady Patriots tallied three out of the last four points.

The Lady Bears looked like they were going to cruise in Game Four, jumping out to an 18-5 lead. The Lady Patriots clawed back though, going on a 9-0 run to pull to within 18-14.

LC-M closed it out with a 7-2 spurt as Kemp and LaVergne combined for four kills down the stretch.

The Lady Bears will now face either Magnolia or San Marcos in the area round of the playoffs later this week.