By Ronnie Hughes

Leader Correspondent

WARREN —A rather dominant performance by the Little Cypress-Mauriceville Lady Bears Tuesday night catapulted them past the Splendora Wildcats 47-36 in the 4A bi-district round of the playoffs. The Bears stellar defense along with Sheridan Rogers constant presence around the basket with 21 points and 12 rebounds gave the Wildcats all they could handle.

The Wildcats got off to a hot start leading 10-4 early on the back of two huge three point shots from Autumn Knott. Following an early timeout called by the Lady Bears they’d make the right adjustments and begin double-teaming Knott which allowed the Bears to end the first quarter on a 10-0 run and lead, 16-12. Knott managed to score 16 on the night along with 7 rebounds. She was 3-4 from the three-point line.

The LC-M defense was relentless heading into the second quarter holding Splendora scoreless for six minutes. Rogers was unable to be stopped as she kept pounding the boards with two straight put-back buckets to extent the Lady Bear run to 14-0. Moments later Grace Chen got steal at half court and went the distance for a reverse layup and double digit lead, 22-12. The Lady Bears moved the ball well which created open shots and a 31-17 lead at the half. Chen chipped in 10 points and 6 rebounds in the Lady Bear victory.

Knott opened the scoring for Splendora to start the second half, but it was once again Rogers to answer right back. Alia Brown added early pressure herself with a steal and bucket before the Wildcats would call a timeout to regroup. Knott was the only consistent offense the Wildcats had all night and sparked small rally after hitting her third three-point shot. The Lady Bear lead was cut to single digits at the end of the third, 40-31.

Splendora opened the fourth with a full court press that seemed to startle the Lady Bears momentarily as they pulled within six points before the Lady Bears adjusted and began to speed up the game. They’d quickly evaporate what momentum the Wildcats had and extend their lead to 47-36 as Alia Brown began to warm up and beat the Lady Wildcats to the basket. The defense was able to hold the final two minutes as the Lady Wildcats looked defeated despite a valiant second half effort in which they held the Lady Bears to just 16 second half points. Brown had 10 points on the night for LC-M.

The Lady Bears will move on to the 4A area round of the UIL playoffs with their opponent, place and time to be announced.