Marlin Girls Basketball tied for first place

With ten wins under their belt, it's no surprise that the Lady Bulldogs Varsity Basketball Team is currently tied for first place in district play, ranking alongside both  the Bremond Tigers and Mart Panthers. They’re scheduled to face both of these two teams within the coming weeks, but victories over Axtell and Dawson this week have the girls on an athletic high. 

In both games, the Marlin girls rocked it out until they had more than four times the points of the other team.

First was the challenge against the Lady Horns, where the Marlin girls swept the floor with the hosting team. The first quarter of the game should have been an indication of how the bout would go, but no one knew how far the Bulldogs could widen the score. After coming out 13 points ahead of the Lady Horns, the Marlin girls pulled out another 10 points in the second portion of the game. 

Both teams were ready for halftime, with the Bulldogs roaring to keep widening the 20-point difference. They went into the third quarter with a sitting score of 27-7 but the Bulldogs came out another double-digit addition to the scoreboard. The score was 38-8 by the end of it, with the Panthers only having sank a single free throw.

The Lady Horns pulled out their best after starting the fourth quarter a full 30 points down, but only succeeded in scoring an additional eight points, bringing their total score to 16 points for the game. At the same time, Marlin’s offense went to work, cementing the 40 point score gap by the end of the match. The game ended with a score of 56-16.

Friday’s home bout against the Dawson Bulldogs went across incredibly similarly, with the Lady Bulldogs of Marlin reigning in points throughout the game. Dawson's offense fought and failed to get a basket throughout the first quarter, but Marlin had 11 points on the board by the time the buzzer sounded on that portion of the game. 

Marlin’s offense headed into overdrive, scoring 14 points throughout the quarter, 24 in the third, and two more in the fourth. Dawson couldn’t keep up with the baskets being sunk by the Marlin athletes, scoring only ten points throughout the match. The game ended with Marlin having more than five times the points that Dawson did, at (51-10.)

Both games ended with significant score gaps, aided by some star players. Marlin’s own Yasmen Maxwell and Aniya Williams, both already signed with their respective colleges, are leading the scoreboards, not only within their own team or within District 18, but within Division 2A overall. Williams is currently ranked fourth among the stat leaders in the rank, with 12 games under her belt this season, 199 points, 84 shots made, an average of 16.6 points per game, 62 percent of field goals made, and 54 percent of free throws made. Maxwell is not far behind. The senior is currently placed seventh among the division leaders, with the same 12 games played, 184 points scored, an average of 15.3 points per game, 71 shots made, an average of 41 percent of field goals made, five three-pointers made, and 70 percent of free throws made. 

Scores from Tuesday’s match versus Lancaster will be available next week. The Lady Bulldogs will travel to face the Wortham Bulldogs on Friday night at 6:30 p.m., where they are expected to pummel the dogs. Wortham is coming off a loss to Bremond earlier this month and is sitting in sixth place.