Lady Leps Make Strong Opening Statement

With only three varsity returnees from last year, there were lots of question marks for the La Grange girls basketball season heading into this season.

The Lady Leps answered a lot of those questions in a dominating 68-15 victory over Schulenburg Monday in the season opener for both teams.

In Schulenburg’s defense, many of the Lady Horns’ key players are still playing volleyball in the midst of their successful playoff run.

But there was no denying how bright the future looks for the lady Leps after Monday’s opener – no matter the opponent.

“First time out, lots of new faces, but I was pretty pleased with our effort,” said La Grange head coach Heath Golan. “We were being up tempo and running the floor.”

The Lady Leps’ suffocating defense forced a ton of turnovers.

La Grange had three different players each double figures – junior Landri Hernadez, sophomore Kylie Trlicek and freshmen Campbell Cooper all scored 12 points each.

Trlicek and Hernandez and other starters Cara Homer and Kaylee Holmes were playing volleyball just last week and had all of one basketball practice before Monday’s opener.

“I think we did pretty well. First games are always tough, said Xeriah Jimenez, who scored nine. “I was really impressed with how they did after only one day of practice.”

Homer scored eight, Yaya York scored four and Holmes scored three.

In a show of just how young this Lady Leps team is, Jimenez was the only senior suited out Monday. Tori Harold is the team’s only other senior, but she is sidelined with an injury.

“Being the only senior, I’ve really tried to step up and be a leader,” Jimenez said. “My main thing is to just encourage everyone. I know we can do really well this season.”

By contrast the Lady Leps also got big contributions from a pair of freshmen – Cooper and Macie Collier, who scored eight.

Campbell Cooper is the daughter of new La Grange football coach Kyle Cooper and Macie Collier is the daughter of new La Grange boys basketball coach Trent Collier.

“It was good to see them come out and play like they did,” Golan said. “With a young team like this there are going to be some growing pains, but every game is going to be good for us to give us that much more experience.”

The Lady Leps will now play their next several games on the road starting with next Tuesday’s game at Shiner.

La Grange girls 68, Schulenburg 15

La Grange 25 15 18 10 – 68 Schulenburg 2 7 4 2 – 15

LG scoring: Kylie Trlicek- 12, Landri Hernandez- 12, Campbell Cooper- 12, Xeriah Jimenez- 9, Macie Collier- 8, Cara Homer- 8, Yaya York- 4, Kaylee Holmes- 3.

Schulenburg scoring: Kaylee Beyer 5, Michaela Kollmann 1, Haylee Norman 1, Fay Kutac 1, Alana Herzik 3, Ava Bubela 4.

Subvarsity: LG freshmen 27, Schulenburg 14; Leading scorer: Avery Griffin 7

Schulenburg JV 21, La Grange 20; Leading scorer: YaYa York 6