Keep climbing: Improving Pampa high school basketball teams sweep Hereford

Pampa has come a long way on the hardwood since last winter.

The Harvesters won eight games during their 2020-21 campaign and lost to Hereford twice by a combined score of 111-69 in their two district meetings. The Lady Harvesters won only one game last year and convincingly lost both of their District 4-4A head-to-head's against Hereford.

This year things are different.

Pampa's Lady Harvesters took down the Lady Whitefaces 51-44 last night behind the outstanding play of freshman point guard Berlin Bartlett (20 points) for their first win over the Herd since 2018.

"She got into some foul trouble early and didn't even play most of the second quarter," Lady Harvesters coach Jared Messer said. "Our other girls just stepped up and kept us in it. We still have room for improvement and for us to win without playing our best against a team we've struggled against in the past is big."

Following that game, the Harvesters took the court and took down their district rivals in a heated back-and-forth matchup that started with an early 12-2 deficit and ended with a 45-43 victory.

Physical forces: Hereford hosts Pampa in District 4-4A high school basketball doubleheader

"The win was huge," Pampa coach Braydon Barker said. "Going into Hereford is a tough place to play, they're a solid team, and we were able to pull out a close win. It's a really big win for us going forward."

Junior guard Chris St. Cyr stepped up and led the Harvesters with 15 points while usual leading scorer and senior shooting guard Cason Floyd added 11.

Both Pampa teams will now look ahead to their challenging matchup against the Top 25 ranked Canyon squads on Friday night at home. The Harvesters are allowing only 41.0 points per game through their first two district games and will need to keep that surge on that side of the court going.

"We're just going to have to keep playing good defense to have a chance against Canyon," Barker said.

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Pampa high school basketball teams take down Hereford in district play