Shining like a star: Peyton North nets 25 points, aids No. 8 Lubbock-Cooper to win over No. 1 Monterey in 4-4A play
WOODROW — No leading scorers? No problem.
While Monterey was missing Aaliyah Chavez and Lubbock-Cooper was without Majik Esquivel, the two squads became entrenched in a compelling matchup of state-ranked team looking to gain an advantage in District 4-4A action.
And when they needed a scoring spark, the Lady Pirates just needed to look North — Peyton North, that is.
The senior guard, sporting a bruise under her eye after taking an errant shot in the prior game, showed toughness by scoring a season-best 25 points — which included four three-pointers while driving into the paint and finishing with contact — to power No. 8 Lubbock-Cooper to a 74-71 win over the No. 1 Lady Plainsmen.
“It really helps when your team picks you up and knows that you can do it,” North said, alluding to her bruise that she suffered a week prior. “And it it really helped in this game. Like, we were all aggressive, we all made it to the paint , we were all getting handsy on defense — trying to get those steals. So, it really helped this game.”
It also helped the Lady Pirates (13-2, 2-0) stay undefeated in district play, providing a much needed boost toward achieving the ultimate goal of claiming the title at the end of the season.
None of that would have been possible without the effort of North and another senior, Carisa Cortez — who drained a pair of free throws with 1.9 seconds left in the contest.
“I tried to stay level-headed,” said Cortez, who finished with 15 points, ”try and keep my composure. I’m glad I hit those shots to secure the win.”
On the other side of the court, Monterey’s Ambrosia Cole missed the second of two free throws that would have knotted the game up at 72-72 with 9.4 seconds. Instead, the miss led to a quick foul and a desperation three-pointer that missed its mark.
”To me, losing the game is not what matters as much as the experience that some of our players got,” Monterey coach Jill Schneider said. “And I thought we showed some great resiliency. It’s not easy to lose a player that offers what Aaliyah (Chavez) does in terms of just composure and poise, and scoring and defense.
“Put 71 points on the board without Aaliyah — that’s good for us. And I think some of our young players were in positions that I really appreciated them being in. … So I just feel like some of our players emerged a little bit. Win or lose, this is gonna help us.”
The resilience was a good thing to see for Lubbock-Cooper coach Kyle Lovorn.
“That’s kind of what I learned about my team tonight (Friday),” he said. ”They have a lot more fight than maybe we had before. And we were making big plays whenever it counted. Really proud of our team.”
The first half proved both squads were up to the task of putting the ball in the basket — despite missing a key component to both of their offensive attacks.
Lubbock-Cooper used its speed at the guard spot, along with weaves to help open up the perimeter, while Monterey utilized its length and height to shoot mid-range jumpers.
“That just flowed, that’s just our game,” North said of the Lady Pirates draining 13 three-pointers. ”We do whatever feels right in the moment and we know that can do both, we can drive and we can shoot 3s. We were confident, we knew we can make them.”
That was evident in the first quarter, which saw Lubbock-Cooper drain four triples en route to ending the first eight minutes knotted up at 22-22 with the more than capable shooting prowess of the Lady Plainsmen.
The difference occurred when North, along with Cortez and others, penetrated into the paint to open up shooters beyond the 3-point line. The drive-and-kick action put the Monterey in a bind without its top player — Chavez — leading the effort.
It was also a solid gameplan because it meant the Lady Plainsmen were forced to keep post Kelly Mora, a Texas Tech signee, inside for rebounding purposes where she could draw a foul or allow her to shift outside and provide help to teammates.
“We knew that if we could get her (Kelly Mora) out of the paint a little bit, we could open up for us to drive,” North said of a dribble-drive attack. ”And we did that really well, even maneuvering around her to get a layup off.”
The best example saw Cortez get under the basket before her shot attempt was blocked. The senior guard did not panic as she corralled the loose ball, dribbled back and drained a corner three-point to provide Lubbock-Cooper a 17-9 advantage in the middle of the first quarter.
The frenetic tempo continued as both squads went back-and-forth with the lead before a Calyn Dallas trey — one of four on the night — helped the Lady Pirates take a two-possession lead at 34-28.
Monterey would not going into its locker room with that, though, as Jaelyn Morrison and Cole netted a pair of jumpers to close the gap to two points (34-32) by the midway point.
It was nip-and-tuck the rest of the way as the squads displayed their deep benches and provided entertainment for the next 16 minutes until the final buzzer.
”It’s good to have other big players who step up and make big plays,” Cortez said. ”And I know they didn’t have Aaliyah and we didn’t have Majik. But, at the end of the day, a dub is a dub.”
What’s next: Lubbock-Cooper is slated to take on Lubbock High in a 6 p.m. Tuesday road contest.
Injury updates: Aaliyah Chavez injured her knee while taking a fall in a Nov. 29 game against Frenship, via Monterey coach Jill Schneider. After trying to play through it, she was held out Friday for precautionary reasons. Lubbock-Cooper’s Majik Esquivel turned her ankle earlier in the season and is listed as day-to-day after missing court time, per head coach Kyle Lovorn.
NO. 8 LUBBOCK-COOPER 74, NO. 1 MONTEREY 71
Monterey 22 10 25 14 – 71
Lubbock-Cooper 22 12 20 20 – 74
MONTEREY (13-3, 0-1)
Heaven Limon 11. Ambrosia Cole 10, McKenzie Begaye 2, Jaelyn Morrison 15, Ari Johnson 8, Kelly Mora 25. Totals 7-18, 7-13, 22.
LUBBOCK-COOPER (13-4, 2-0)
Abby Dallas 3, Calyn Dallas 16, Rylee Robertson 1, Peyton North 25, Carisa Cortez 15, Gabby Contreras 8, Kaylee Cronk 6. Totals 15-49 11-20 43.
Halftime — Lubbock-Cooper 34, Monterey 32
3-Point Goals — Monterey 5 (Morrison 3, Limon 2, ), Lubbock-Cooper 13 (C. Dallas 4, North 4, Cortez 3, A. Dallas 1, Contreras 1)
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Peyton North nets season-best 25 points, aids No. 8 Lubbock-Cooper to win over No. 1 Monterey in 4-4A play
