After a strong week with three wins to end regular season play, the Lady Mustangs began conference play with confidence. They faced the number three seeded Bertrand on Tuesday, February 18, in Southern Valley. Both the Mustangs and the Vikings struggled to see the ball go through the hoop during the first quarter, with the scores at 5-2 in Silver Lake’s favor. The Mustangs found some momentum off of a few steals early in the second quarter to quadruple their points in the first to lead by 14 going into the break. The momentum carried through to the next half of play with Silver Lake outscoring Bertrand 32-12 to easily advance to the sub-district final with a score of 57-23. What proved to help secure the victory was eliminating some turnovers and finding some offensive boards to extend their possessions; the Mustangs managed to hold their turnovers to 7 and pulled down 18 offensive rebounds. Defensively, Silver Lake picked off 21 steals and converted those to earn some transition points.
For the second time of the season, the Mustangs faced Loomis on Thursday with a chance to advance to Sub-State to extend their season. Both teams found success early on with the score after the first quarter of play at 21-18 in the Wolves’ favor. Loomis extended their lead to eight by halftime. In the third quarter, the Mustangs fought to overcome the deficit; however, both teams put up 10. After having to put the Wolves on the line, the Mustangs fell 64-48. The Mustangs picked apart Loomis’s offense, forcing 19 turnovers to Silver Lake’s 12. Loomis’s victory was due largely in part to their 54% shooting percentage. Despite the loss, the Mustangs earned the wild card to advance to Sub-State where they will face Loomis again on Friday, February 28 at Minden High School.
