The Aubrey Lady Chaps made a short road trip for a non-district matchup with the Denton Lady Broncos and left with a 37-34 win in overtime Tuesday night.
The back-and-forth contest saw both teams trade the lead multiple times, with the Lady Chaps making multiple clutch plays in overtime to pull off the win, breaking their recent losing streak.
“I’m proud of how even after we lost the lead we fought back,” head girls basketball coach Nicole Black said. “We’ve never been in an overtime game, [but] my starters did a great job of digging in deep and finishing the game. … We’ve had some tough losses on the road, but this win should help propel us going forward.”
Both teams came out sluggish in the opening period, with Denton taking a slight advantage, leading 5-3 at the end of the first quarter.
Aubrey found its rhythm in the second quarter, going on a 10-5 run and taking a 13-10 lead at the half.
The Lady Chaps continued to pour on the points with a 12-7 third quarter and building an 8-point lead as the teams entered the fourth quarter.
The Lady Broncos found another gear in the final quarter, erasing the deficit and taking the lead at 31-30 with one minute left in the game.
Aubrey junior guard Addalyn Cagle was sent to the free throw line with 5.6 seconds left in regulation, where she tied the score at 31 and sent the game to overtime.
The Lady Chaps outscored the Lady Broncos 6-3 in the overtime period, with sophomore guard Paris Butler delivering the dagger with a three to seal the 37-34 win.
“I was wide open, and apparently everybody was screaming no when I shot it, but I didn’t hear them,” Paris said. '… I realized after I let it go that it probably wasn’t a good shot, but it went in, and everyone was happy that I made it.”
Cagle led Aubrey with 13 points, followed by 5 points from London Butler.
“Not scoring in the first half made me a little nervous, but my teammates kept supporting me,” Cagle said. '… When I’m low on confidence, they always build me up and make sure I’m ready to shoot when I have the chance. It feels great to know they rely on me, and I can rely on them.”
Black also highlighted the play of Lady Chaps guard Margaret Conley, who protected the ball down the stretch, and forwards Marquia Lucas and Abby Lynch-Buxton, who maintained a strong interior presence for their team.
Black said she hopes the win teaches the Lady Chaps how to be more resilient and find ways to win in late-game situations.
“We have some games coming up that we can win that we lost in the first half of the season,” she said. “I think we can go back and take some of those games in the second half of our schedule, [and] for a team like ours that has gone up and down and struggled a little bit, that’s going to be huge for us to finish off the season with some wins.”
