DRIPPING SPRINGS — It was a record-setting night for the Lady Cavaliers Tuesday as they defeated Dripping Springs 50-36, capping off the best regular-season the Lake Travis girls basketball has ever seen.
With a postseason spot already clinched, Lake Travis coach Ted Dydalewicz, knew that Tuesday’s game was as important as ever, as multiple records were at stake to be broken or tied by the Lady Cavs (23-8, 7-4 District 25-4A), including the highest winning percentage in team history.
“The girls knew, going into the game, that we could tie with the school record for most wins ever,” Dydalewicz said of the squads’ historic season. “But more importantly, they knew that they could go into the playoffs with the best winning percentage in school history”
The Lady Cavs — who also tied the program record for wins in a season (23) — used the momentum gained from a dominant first half to propel them to victory against a Dripping Springs (14-18-1, 0-11-1) team that was unable to get a single district win with their inexperienced team.
Being the last game of the regular-season, Dydalewicz decided to start every, healthy senior — Kamaryn Ehlers, Katie Neuse, Kaci Eaton, Kelsey Rause and Taylor Dydalewicz, who is his granddaughter.
The group of seniors, excluding guard Taylor Kan, who was out with an injury, played the first four minutes of the game together, each leaving the court with a standing applause by the traveling crowd of Lake Travis fans.
“This group of young ladies will be very hard to see move on,” coach Dydalewicz said. “They learned a lot last year as juniors, without a senior on the team — and it’s showing in what kind year we’re having now.”
After relieving Ehlers midway through the first quarter, junior guard Abbie Mahlum exhibited one of the reasons as to why Lake Travis, despite losing six seniors after the season, will be a in the hunt again next year as well. Mahlum immediately drained a 3-pointer and totaled seven of the Lady Cavs’ 10 points in the period.
Mahlum finished the night with a team-high 15 points and junior Annick Morris pitched in with 10 points for the Lady Cavs.
However, Mahlum wasn’t playing for her own satisfaction, but rather that of her senior predecessors.
“I want to win for (the seniors),” said Mahlum of her play throughout the season. “I know it’s their last year, and I want to go out and give it my all for that group.”
Following a second quarter, led by post players Rause and Eaton, which gave Lake Travis a comfortable 31-21 lead, and the reality of the playing in their final games set in for the seniors.
“I felt like the win was deserved because everyone has worked so hard,” said the 6-2 Eaton, who had six points. “(The seniors) were all so excited to play together.
“We feed off each other so well, so obviously it’s going to be sad when it ends.”
Fortunately, for the Lady Cavs, the season isn’t over yet.
After clinching the district No. 3 seed, Lake Travis will play the Travis Lady Rebels (18-13) in the bi-district playoffs — a game that will test the Lady Cavs’ will.
Taylor Dydalewicz, who had seven points and considered it an “off-night,” said that their postseason matchup with Travis is going to be played as any other game would be.
“I expect it to be tough, just like any other game would be,” Dydalewicz said. “We’re going to go out with full intensity and give it our all. We’re not going to quit until the buzzer rings.”
However, coach Dydalewicz, who compared Travis with district opponent, Vandergrift, claimed that this season’s success is an indicator of things to come.
“Our record, the 15-game winning streak, the hardware — winning two (tournament) championships. These prove how hard we’ve worked this year,” Dydalewicz said of his team. “But we always seem to outperformed expectations.”
According to Eaton, however, one thing is clear as the Lady Cavs enter their highly anticipated playoff game.
Get a win.
“Coach told us in the locker room, ‘in the playoffs, you either win or go home.’ We don’t plan on going home.”
Lake Travis will play Travis 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Burger Center.

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Primed for the playoffs, the Lake Travis girls basketball team is planning to make a little postseason noise.
The Lake Travis girls basketball team topped Vandegrift 41-36 in the Lady Cavs last home game of the regular season, now the team waits to see who they will play in the bi-district round of the playoffs either Monday or Tuesday.
The Lady Cavs (22-8, 7-4) controlled the fourth quarter to snag the win against the Lady Vipers.
Delaney Maberry, Taylor Dydalewicz, Annick Morris and Kelsey Rause combined to score 34 of the Lady Cavs’ 41 points. Maberry topped the team with 10 points, while Morris, Dydalewicz and Rause scored eight points each.
To control their destiny and grab the third seed in district, Lake Travis needed that win over Vandegrift, and now the team is locked in and will face Travis in the bi-district round of the playoffs either Monday or Tuesday.
“It was huge, the girls knew their backs were against the wall and they had to have this one to get third place and secure a playoff spot,” coach Ted Dydalewicz said. “There weren’t any tactical changes, it was a matter of (saying), ‘look you’ve worked very hard and it comes down to the fourth quarter. You’ve got eight minutes left, if you want to get into the playoffs and secure the spot let’s see how much you want it.’”
Maberry scored six in the fourth quarter while she, Taylor Dydalewicz and Morris combined to go 5-for-6 from the free throw line in the final frame.
“It’s the first time they’ve made the playoffs as a group, and it’s just another legacy they can leave,” the coach said.
Lake Travis will have its hands full in the paint against Travis, as the team sports two physical post players that can control a game, similar in style to district foe Vista Ridge.
“They’ve got two big scorers, both happen to be post players,” coach Dydalewicz said. “I feel like we’ve been tested on that. Teams like Vista Ridge were able to work us hard, so it won’t be anything to catch us by surprise. We’re just going to have to be ready to play.”
Heading into the regular season finale at Dripping Springs Tuesday, Feb. 7, the Lady Cavs had a chance to set some new school records for the girls basketball program.
With a win, the team would have the highest winning percentage in program history, and the 23rd win of the season would tie them for the highest mark in team history.
“We’re very excited about that,” Dydalewicz said. “We want to finish on an up note, finish with the best winning percentage in the school’s history with a win. It’s just another milestone this group of young ladies ought to be able to be proud of.”
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AUSTIN – The Cavaliers kept their district record spotless with a 63-53 win over Vandegrift Tuesday night.
Jordan Manse scored a game-high 19 points to lead Lake Travis, Drew Nikolovski added 11 and Stefan Vidovic had nine points.
As the offense stayed steady for the Cavs, defensive slips kept Vandegrift within striking distance throughout the game.
Even in remaining unbeaten in 2012 to move to 9-0 in District 25-4A, the team was unsatisfied with the defensive lapses.
“We were playing really good offense, but the problem was we kept scoring and they kept matching us,” Manse said. “We were just kind of cruising – (since it’s) a team we already beat – and we shouldn’t have been. We were working so hard on offense, we were taking a break on defense, and that’s something we need to stop.”
Lake Travis built an 17-11 lead after the first quarter and increased it to 33-23 by halftime. In the third, the Vipers crept within nine twice but the Cavs answered right back. The score got down to 37-28 and the Cavs responded with a 7-1 run to push the lead to 44-29 on a strip and steal by Luke Hutton, who left a pass for Collin Bowman for a layup with 1:15 to go in the third.
Back the other way, a timeout by Vandegrift (14-15, 3-5) sparked the Vipers to a 6-0 run to close the quarter and it was back to 44-35 heading to the fourth.
“That’s just basketball, peaks and valley, peaks and valleys – you go up and down,” Nikolovski said. “Vandegrift is a great team, as you can see, and they are fighting for a district (playoff) spot right now.”
Matt Tyson hit Vidovic for a nice fast-break layup to put Lake Travis ahead 13, 50-37 with 5:23 left in the game, but the Vipers struck back and made it a nine-point margin again.
Manse and Nikolovski drained back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Cavs another 13-point cushion, and even with a frantic pace and easy scores on both sides, Lake Travis held on for the double-digit win.
“We tried to play man-to-man full court to tire them out, and did pretty good but our defense in the half court wasn’t as good,” Nikolovski said. “Our guards played really well down the stretch. We limited turnovers and finished good with a pretty good defensive stand.”
Lake Travis now heads into its district open date Friday, giving the team some time before the next game hosting Dripping Springs Feb. 7.

The Lady Cavaliers needed a cavalry to keep up with state-ranked Vista Ridge 64-31 on Friday night.
Lake Travis (21-8, 6-4) kept the game close early in the first quarter due to their 2-3 zone, but the Lady Rangers quickly distanced themselves in a 64-31 win.
“They just were quick; they are faster than we thought,” senior Kamaryn Ehlers said of Vista Ridge’s defense. “They were picking out passes, and then again there is that big girl (senior Chinwe Duru) that can block every shot that we could throw up.”
The Lady Cavaliers doubled Duru with one girl in front and one behind her. Forced to play outside, Vista Ridge was unable to dominate in the paint as usual.
Coach Ted Dydalewicz’ squad was also disciplined on offense in the first quarter and a three by guard Taylor Dydalewicz for Lake Travis cut the Lady Rangers led to 7-5.
After the first quarter, the Lady Cavaliers were only down 14-7, but all the momentum Lake Travis created in the first quarter fell apart in the second.
Countless turnovers by the Lady Cavaliers turned into easy buckets for the Lady Rangers. Vista Ridge freshman guard Japrice Dean took over in the second quarter scoring eight of the Lady Rangers 20 points in the second quarter.
Lake Travis could not handle her athleticism on the defense end as she berated the Lady Cavaliers guards into forcing Lake Travis to a total of 20 turnovers in the game. Lake Travis was unable to score in the second quarter with Vista Ridge going on a 20-0 run to extend their led to 34-7 at halftime.
Vista Ridge continued to play well into the third quarter and this time it was the Duru who bothered Lake Travis. The post player scored six points in the third and her presence was felt on the defense end, as she did not allow the Lady Cavaliers to easily drive into the lane. The Lady Rangers would take a 34-7 lead at halftime due to their stout defense.
However, Lake Travis did reply after their goose egg in the second quarter, scoring 12 points in the third. It was Kaci Eaton who ended the scoring drought a little after three minutes into the third quarter. She would score seven total points in the game.
The Lady Cavaliers showed improvement in the fourth quarter outscoring Vista Ridge 12 to 11 in the final quarter, although they were playing against the majority of the Lady Rangers bench players. The final score was 64-31 in favor of Vista ridge, which was Lake Travis lowest scoring output of the year.
Along with Eaton, Dydalewicz scored seven points and Delaney Maberry chipped in five points.
Lake Travis has hit a rough spot after starting district play on a tear, as the Lady Cavs have now lost three consecutive in district.
The Lady Cavs will look to get back in the win column when they host Vandegrift 7 p.m. on Jan. 31.
Lake Travis then has an open date in district play on Friday, and finishes out the season at Dripping Springs 7 p.m. Tuesday.

The Lady Cavaliers played near perfect basketball in a district win last week, but Lake Travis followed that up with a disappointing loss.
The Lady Cavs grabbed another district victory by easily taking care of the Marble Falls Lady Mustangs 53-33 at home Jan. 17 but fell to Cedar Park Friday 59-43.
The loss to the Lady T’Wolves (18-15, 6-2) could likely bump Lake Travis (21-6, 6-2) out of a chance for the No. 2 seed in district.
“It did go in the opposite direction (from the Marble Falls win),” coach Ted Dydalewicz said. “In fact, I felt pretty confident going into it and the girls knew it was pretty much for second place, and it still could be, but I was thinking the way we came off of Marble that we’d be mentally ready.”
Lake Travis started out strong and held a 19-6 lead after the first quarter, but the Lady Cavs mustered a mere three points in the second quarter to trail 25-19 at the break. The Lady T’Wolves extended their margin by outscoring Lake Travis 21-13 in the third frame, and though the Lady Cavs would pull close again, Cedar Park pushed the lead right back up to take the win.
“We’ve got to play for four quarters as everyone knows,” Dydalewicz said. “We didn’t do a good job of blocking out and they’ve got some really great shooters and follow shots. That was it in a nutshell.”
Blocking out has been a point of emphasis for the Lady Cavs throughout district play, and the team hopes the rebounding efforts increase.
“Probably our Achilles’ Heel is blocking out. We’ve tried to get better and better and have done all types of things,” Dydalewicz said. “We’re stressing what we need to do on that, did drills on what we need to do and hopefully, we’ll see some fruits out of all that work. Right now, we need the girls to realize they can’t always use their long arms or height, you’ve got to put a body on somebody.”
Taylor Dydalewicz scored 16 for Lake Travis, with Annick Morris and Delaney Maberry adding eight points and Abbie Mahlum scoring seven.
“The positives again go with what we’ve been doing, the girls never showed any type of quit,” the coach said. “They were hustling and kept hoping for things to turn their way.”
The turnaround was stark because of the way the Lady Cavaliers played in the win over Marble Falls, playing near perfect basketball in a district win.
Pressing from the very first minute, Lake Travis controlled the tempo of the game – something the Lady Cavs have been familiar with during the majority of the season.
Led by Taylor Dydalewicz’s impressive defensive pressure and even more resounding halfcourt offense play, the Lady Cavs jumped ahead of the Lady Mustangs and never looked back.
In fact, the only time the Lady Cavs were not leading was prior to the tip.
Dydalewicz, a senior, as well as Mahlum, a junior, helped get the Lady Cavs out to a 16-11 first quarter lead with a multitude of 3-pointers and superior cut-and-screen offense.
Early on the Lady Cavs appeared to take control of the game and seemingly decided to not let anything stop them, including unintentional poke to the eye of their sophomore point guard, Maberry.
“They were passing in the ball and the next thing I know, I got hit in the face,” Maberry said with a bandage under her right eye. “I think that with every play we’ve got to get out there and fight hard through the pain and everything.”
Maberry wouldn’t let the brief injury hurt the outcome of the game, as she maintained responsibility of controlling the ball and opening up opportunities to other players with her above-par passing ability.
The 5-7 Maberry would finish with nine points.
However, the Marble Falls Lady Mustangs battled throughout, led by sophomore guard Bianca Fonseca. The slashing Fonseca earned many trips to the charity-stripe and tallied up a dozen points during the game.
“We knew we were going to have to come out hard,” coach Dydalewicz said. “In this district, every game is important and the girls really showed it tonight.”
The real story of the game, however, was the play of coach’s granddaughter, Taylor Dydalewicz.
Having 13 points at the half and finishing with 24 points was still not the most impressive aspect of her performance Tuesday night. With a long wingspan and quick feet, Dydalewicz contributed with numerous skills and outstanding leadership throughout.
“Having him as my coach is the best thing ever, but it definitely doesn’t make practicing harder,” Dydalewicz explained. “You’re going to have your good moments and bad moments, but winning is certainly a good moment.”
Lake Travis hosts Rouse 7 p.m. Tuesday after View press time and is at district-leading Vista Ridge at the same time Friday. The Lady Cavs take on Vandegrift at home on Tuesday.

Photo by GAMENIGHTPHOTOS.com
Sean Steffen (20) battles for a loose ball against Vista Ridge.

By Habeab Kurdi

sports@ltview.com

Lake Travis traveled to Dripping Springs Jan. 13 and came away with another hard-fought district win.

The Cavs topped the Tigers 66-56 to remain unbeaten in district at 4-0 with a balanced attack across the board.

Drew Nikolovski scored 13 to lead Lake Travis, with Jordan Manse adding 10 points and Stefan Vidovic pitching in with 10 in the victory.

“It was a very close game, but anytime you can go on the road in district and win a game, it’s big,” coach Clint Baty said. “They’re a good team. They’ve got three or four shooters and a couple of big guys — they could make a run in the payoffs just like anybody else, they’ve got the tools.”

With a vocal and emotional Dripping Springs crowd greeting them, the Cavaliers started out a little slow and held a slim 18-15 after on. In the second quarter Lake Travis started to heat up. Capped by a Shaun Nixon basket to close the first half, Lake Travis outscored the Tigers 15-8 in the second quarter for a 33-23 halftime edge.

Coming out of the break, though, the Cavs fell back to the first-quarter level and let the Tigers right back in the game. Dripping Springs outscored Lake Travis 18-11 in the quarter to pull within 44-41.

“We went into halftime with all the emotion after we hit a basket before the end of the half,” Baty said. “But I guess we lost our emotion in the lull at halftime, because we let them cut it down real quickly in the third.”

Dripping Springs had chances to make it very interesting in the fourth quarter, but Lake Travis was able to fend off the Tigers down the stretch thanks to increased defensive pressure and an added emphasis on the glass.

Sean Steffen, Henry Castner and Garon Watters all led the team with five rebounds each, with Steffen adding seven points, two steals and two assists. Luke Hutton had four boards and two assists, Nikolovski tallied four rebounds and four steals, while Nixon had eight points and three steals.

Matt Tyson led the team with three assists.

“Early on in the game, we were rebounding very poorly,” Baty said. “In the end we started to rebound that first miss and weren’t giving them those extra chances.”

The Cavaliers are getting used to increased intensity from their opponents as they maintain their place on top of District 25-4A. Lake Travis will have another test with Cedar Park coming to town for a 7:45 p.m. Friday.

“I think we’re going to get everybody’s best efforts, as would anybody who is leading district, you are going to get their best efforts,” Baty said. “The more you stay up there, the bigger the target gets on you. They came out with a lot of intensity and a lot of emotion, our kids just stayed the course.”

Lake Travis played at Marble Falls Jan. 17 and hosts Cedar Park Jan. 20..

By Habeab Kurdi

sports@ltview.com

The Lady Cavaliers held off a charging Dripping Springs squad for a narrow 50-48 win Jan 13.

In a rare post-halftime lull for the Lake Travis girls basketball team, the winless Lady Tigers pushed Lake Travis with a 19-10 advantage in the fourth quarter and were within a shot of tying it or taking the lead, but Lake Travis held on to move to 5-1 in District 25-4A.

Taylor Dydalewicz scored a game-high 14 points to lead the Lady Cavaliers. Delaney Maberry added 11 points, Abbie Mahlum scored eight and Kaci Eaton had seven points for Lake Travis, which has built a reputation of being a better second half team in recent seasons.

“I think the girls just relaxed and I think they felt like they had it and didn’t work real hard,” coach Ted Dydalewicz said. “It was a matter of we didn’t come to play all four quarters. Even the girls admitted some of them relaxed a little, but it’s something we’ve got to learn from.”

A 9-0 run by the Lady Tigers in the fourth quarter gave Lake Travis reason for concern, and following a timeout the Lady Cavs were in position to seal the win until a mistake led to a turnover with little more than two seconds left to play.

Fortunately for Lake Travis, Dripping Springs needed to go the length of the court and didn’t even get a shot of as the Lady Cavs pressured in the backcourt.

“We shouldn’t have turned the ball over, but they didn’t get the shot off, thank goodness,” Dydalewicz said. “That was the first time we lost a fourth quarter like that. Generally, that’s been our strong quarter. That was a little embarrassing.”

The coach and team are confident they can bounce back and make sure that fourth quarter slip is just a blip this season.

“It’s good though. I think they learned, ‘hey, you get an opponent down you don’t ease up,’ that’s something that they learned,” Dydalewicz said. “We brought it out and discussed it and are ready to move on. They know what they’ve got to do and what’s at stake in the second half. Hopefully we won’t see those types of mistakes, but you have to remember they are 14-to-17 year old girls.”

Lake Travis’ next two contests after the Dripping Springs game are set for against Marble Falls Jan. 17 at home and at Cedar Park 7 p.m. Friday.