The Guyer Lady Wildcats are through four games of their new-look fast-paced offense and pressure defense, and after Monday night’s 71-66 loss to Class 3A Kennedale, they are still looking for their first win of the 2009-2010 season.

But Guyer head coach Charla Valenzuela didn’t have a whole lot to be upset about following the loss in a game which Guyer led for the majority of the night.

“We finally put together almost a full ballgame,” Valenzuela said. “We haven’t won a game yet, but we’re putting together bits and pieces of good basketball. We lost it in the fourth quarter with our turnovers. Overall I’m very happy. Our effort was great, and I thought Tiara [Bradley] was great coming off the bench after we just brought her up [from junior varsity] today.”

Guyer (0-4) got great play from its guards, most notably senior point guard Jasmine Badiru and sophomore guard Jasmine Leday, and had a big night on the boards despite its size disadvantage.

Badiru finished the night with a team-high 20 points, including 14 in the first half, and Leday finished with 16 and a team-high six rebounds, with five coming on the offensive end.

“We told her [Badiru] at the beginning of the year, ‘You can be the X-factor of things if you want it,’” Valenzuela said. “It’s definitely a testament to how much effort they put in in the off-season. It pays off now. I know they don’t see it yet because we didn’t win, but they are definitely buying in. It feels good to play that hard but it hurts so bad to lose.”

Without much front-line size in their lineup, Valenzuela was happy with her team’s play on the glass.

“We did a great job on the boards,” she said. “We obviously have gone to the new offense we have because we’re not very big. If you’re not big you have to block out hard, and I thought we did a great job on the boards.”

Kennedale (3-2) had a brief lead midway through the second quarter, but didn’t lead otherwise until it took a 47-46 lead with 2:49 remaining in the third quarter. It held that lead until the beginning of the final quarter.

Kennedale was led by Breanna Dorsey’s game-high 21 points and 16 from Keira Phipps, who scored 10 in the second half.

Guyer stormed out in the fourth quarter to start the frame on a 6-0 run and built a five-point lead with six minutes to play in the game after two buckets from Leday and a perfect trip to the foul line for Audri Boaldain.

But eventually, turnovers caught up to the Lady Wildcats, who are still trying to adjust to their new up-tempo style of play. The Lady Wildcats had 29 turnovers in the game, but 10 of them came in the fourth quarter, when Kennedale only had two.

“I think they have jumped in with both feet,” Valenzuela said of her players’ attitudes toward the new style of play. “It doesn’t matter if you win now. It really doesn’t. Yes, you’d like it for confidence purposes, but district play is what matters as far as record goes. No one gets in the playoffs with their preseason record. As long as they keep that in mind and focus on what we’ve worked so hard for, we’ll be fine.”

ADAM BOEDEKER can be reached at 940-566-6872. His e-mail address is aboedeker@dentonrc.com.

Kennedale 71, Guyer 66

Kennedale          16           17           18           20           --             71

Guyer    17           19           14           16           --             66

Kennedale (3-2) -- Keira Phipps 16, Jamaika Hughes 2, Desiree Scott 11, Lexi Anderson 4, Breanna Dorsey 21, Chandler Thornton 2, Travanti Downer 13.