SAN ANGELO, TX — A dominant defensive performance saw the No. 13 Garden City Lady Kats race past Eden in the first round of the playoffs on Monday night. Garden City led from start to finish to claim a bi-district championship, 52-13.
"I loved our defensive energy," Garden City head coach Dustin Bates said. "I thought we were connected pretty well out there and thought we rotated well on our pressure. We also rebounded well. We did not give up many offensive rebounds. We did not shoot the ball well, but I thought our defense and our rebounding covered up for our poor shooting night."
The Lady Kats flexed their defensive muscles early, holding Eden scoreless in the first quarter. Turnovers led to easy points as Garden City built a 14-0 lead. Emy Schwartz jumped out to a hot start, scoring five points in the opening period.
Garden City in action against Eden 2026
Eden fought back in the second quarter, scoring five points, but Garden City added 12 more to its total to take a 26-5 lead into the half. Karly Baker proved efficient at the free-throw line, going 6-for-6.
The defensive dominance continued into the second half. Garden City gave up five points in the third quarter and three in the fourth to put the game away with an exclamation point.
"These girls have been doing this for a couple of years," Bates continued. "And they've been playing together a lot longer than that. They just trust each other out here. They are getting to the point where they are thinking the same, and rotating the same. I feel like they really step up whenever they need to step up the most, and I'm excited about those games in the future."
Emy Schwartz led Garden City with 15 points, followed by Keegan Batla with 13 points. Baker scored 10 points, with Kaylee Garcia adding five, and Ivy Braden and Sadie Fuchs scoring two points apiece.
Eden's Dalli Roberts led her team with six points.
Next up, Garden City faces off with the winner between Rankin and Balmorhea later this week. The date, time and location of that matchup is still to be determined.
2025-26 Garden City Lady Kats
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