CUBA – Cuba High School’s girls basketball team began their season on Nov. 22 in a matchup against Richland in the Blue Fish Shootout at Rolla High School.

The Lady Wildcats found themselves in a tight 22-21 advantage at halftime after a back-and-forth first half. Cuba’s defense then tightened to a vice grip and gave up just two points in the third quarter and nine points in all of the second half to propel the Lady Cats to a 38-30 victory. 

Cuba head coach Evin Farris said that he was proud of how his team executed his defensive focused game plan.

“I thought they executed our game plan to a tee. Our defense was phenomenal,” Farris said. “We said we had to start getting some more stops. And I think the girls took it to heart that they wanted to get a win and wanted to get stops. And they did it.”

Cuba was led by juniors Jaylen Haffer, Leah Schmidt and Mya Garbo, who all scored in double figures. Haffer was dominant in the first half, scoring 11 of her team-high 12 points in the early stages of the game to steady the Lady Wildcats. Schmidt knocked down two three-pointers, finished with 10 points and was the floor general throughout the game getting Cuba into their offense. 

Farris said that he was not surprised by the efforts from his star juniors.

“That junior class, they’ve been basketball players all the way through, and they are gamers. They want to win. They’re competitive, and they just work hard. They’re always going to be the ones that lead the way, and when they lead our way, we’ve got a good chance to win.”

Garbo was the story of the second half, scoring nine of her 11 points, and seemed to score every time Richland started to inch closer. Garbo was a big part of Cuba’s defensive intensity and picked up multiple steals playing with tenacious intensity. Her defensive persistence unfortunately led to a head-on collision with a Richland player at end of the game, which led to a bruise. Farris applauded Garbo’s efforts and said that she should be OK moving forward. 

“Right now, she’s got a good knot on her head,” Farris said. “She plays from whistle to whistle and even though there were only a few seconds left, she’s still picking up full court trying to stop the best girl on their team, because she knew that was one of their key girls. So she just plays hard and she’ll be alright, she’s a tough kid.” 

The Lady Wildcats also received strong efforts from junior Annica Farris and sophomore Brooklyn Tate. Farris hit an early three-pointer and was a part of Cuba’s stout defense. Tate battled in the paint for rebounds throughout the game and used patient footwork to knock down a hook shot to give her two points. Freshman Addison McGinnis made her varsity debut, and although she didn’t score, she helped the Lady Cats’ ball movement and defensive prowess.

The Lady Wildcats played in Newburg on Nov. 25, which will be detailed in next week’s edition. Cuba will then travel to Bayless on Dec. 2 and Villa Duchesne on Dec. 4 before playing their first home game on Dec. 9 against St. James.