SAN ANTONIO, Texas—Day two of the UIL Texas Girls’ Basketball State Tournament followed suit with day one and offered six more semifinal contests setting up an exciting championship Saturday slate of games. Friday saw the “evens” take the floor as the 2A, 4A and 6A went at it for the opportunity to play just one more time. Once again Blue Star Media was on press row from start to finish and will be back again for all the action Saturday from the Alamodome. The following is a quick recap of each game and you can use the link below to look back at the same coverage from Thursday’s semifinal contests.
http://bluestarmedia.co/index.php/component/k2/item/1159-uil-texas-girls-state-tournament-day-one
Saturday’s match ups and complete brackets can be found by clicking on the following link.
http://www.uiltexas.org/basketball/state-girls/brackets
Check back with Blue Star Media Sunday for championship results as well as evaluations of some of the top performers on hand in San Antonio.
Friday
2A Semifinal – Martin’s Mill 36 La Poyner 33
Martin’s Mill looked like they were going to ease into the Saturday’s 2A final without breaking a sweat as La Poyner was ice cold out of the gate making just 2 of 20 first half shots. However, the Lady Mustangs led just 7 – 3 after one and 17 – 7 at the break. Sophomore guard Jocie Bennet had six but Martin’s Mill wasn’t exactly “hot” connecting on only 27 percent of their own attempts. While La Poyner found the range in the third the Lady Mustangs still extended their lead by three to 28 – 15 entering the final period. The Flyers, who defeated Martin’s Mill earlier in the season, made a furious run getting things into single digits at the 2:15 mark and cutting it to five with :15 seconds remaining on a Haley Terry three. Terry, a senior, made it one possession with another long ball with just seven seconds left but that’s where it would end. The Mustangs added a free throw to seal the win and advance. Senior post Cheyenne Brown led the way in the win with a double – double of 15 points and 15 rebounds. Terry paced the Flyers with 14 that included 4 of 9 shooting from deep. Impressive freshman guard Te’Aire Hambrick recovered from a 0 for 10 first half to finish with 11 points and seven assists.
2A Semifinal – Gruver 51 Weimer 48 Overtime
The way things started for Gruver they may have given thought to an early departure from San Antonio. Down 16 – 8 after one and 31 – 15 at the half will cause doubts in most minds…most. Despite a 3 of 14 first half the Lady Hounds worked their way back into things finally punching their ticket to Saturday’s 2A championship game with a 51 – 48 overtime win over Weimer. Promising junior wing / guard Jazmine Kirby had 11 points and eight boards in the first half to push the Wildcats to their short lived 16 point lead. Before the third period had ended Gruver had closed the gap to just five behind 12 points from undersized junior forward Brennyn Seagler as the Lady Hounds took the period 17 – 6. Gruver finally took their first lead with 3:49 to go in the fourth and after some back and forth both teams went scoreless the last 1:21 including a missed Gruver lay up at the buzzer to necessitate the extra period. Gruver scored first in OT and never gave up the lead but that doesn’t mean Weimer didn’t have opportunities to tie or win it. Shooting one for seven and turning it over four times sealed the Wildcats fate and ended their season one game short. Seagler was a workhorse for Gruver finishing with 24 points, 19 in the second half, and had 11 rebounds. Senior Reagan Haynes added 14 more in the win. Kirby finished with a double – double of 17 and 14 but also turned it over six times. Sophomore post Summer Almeida chipped in 10 more and added seven boards.
4A Semifinal – Argyle 58 Waco La Vega 54
Championship basketball is no better than when it goes down to a single possession. When Argyle stripped La Vega’s junior guard Calveion Landrum before she could get a shot off with three seconds left they protected their two point lead and coveted ticket to the finals. The Lady Eagles had to hold off Landrum and her teammates time and again to ultimately post the 58 – 54 win. Opening the game, Argyle’s two point first period lead became just one at the half 27 – 26. Vivian Gray led the way over the first 16 minutes with 16 points on 50 percent shooting. The Lady Eagles added four more to the lead in the third making the count 45 – 40 entering the final period. Over the course of the quarter Argyle stretched the lead to seven on one occasion, six on another and held a four point lead five different times. Each time the Lady Pirates responded getting it to just one at the 3:36 mark and again with 12 seconds left. That led to Landrum’s final possession and a steal by sophomore wing Madison Ralston to shut the door on La Vega. Gray provided one of the tournament’s best performances thus far with 36 points on 12 of 19 shooting and contributing 13 rebounds while playing all 32 minutes. Senior guard Jesse Sheridan added 12 more for the Lady Eagles. Landrum had 24 points, six rebounds and three assists while high profile post Erin DeGrate was just 1 for 11 from the floor but did pull down 12 rebounds in the loss.
4A Semifinal – Abilene Wylie 52 Liberty Hill 42
While not exactly a tale of two halves, Wylie’s win over Liberty Hill was certainly a contrast following the break. The Bulldogs jumped out 11 – 2 after one period exploiting Liberty Hill’s frosty five percent shooting to open the game. The second quarter was better but not by much as the Panthers warmed up to a whopping 14 percent trailing 22 – 10 at the break. Wylie junior post Brittany Brewer got off to a quick start connecting on six of eight attempts and finishing the half with 12 points. It was a new game once the third period got underway with the lid finally off for the Panthers but they broke even at 15 all for the quarter and still trailed by 12 going into the fourth. Wylie showed their Achilles heel and embraced the “better to give than receive” philosophy committing 14 second half turnovers (25 for the game) including six in the final period with Liberty Hill closing to as close as five before the final horn. Brewer finished with 18 points on 61 percent shooting and added 8 boards to the cause. Senior Ashlee Walker had 20 points and five steals for the Panthers.
6A Semifinal – Dallas Skyline 61 Lewisville Flower Mound 34
Skyline and Flower Mound looked to be a challenge for both teams but across the course of 32 minutes the Lady Raiders found the going a little bit easier. Outscoring Flower Mound every quarter, particularly a 20 – 7 second, helped propel Skyline into Saturday’s 6A championship game by way of a 61 – 34 win. The Jaguars started cold from the field trailing 14 – 8 after one quarter and continued to struggle producing just seven points in the second and finding themselves on the short end of a 34 – 15 halftime score. Skyline point guard Christalah had no trouble finding the range as she led the Lady Raiders with 19 points on 7 for 11 shooting including 3 of 4 from deep. High profile Flower Mound junior forward Lauren Cox connected on just one of her seven field goal attempts as she and her teammates were 4 for 18 in the first half. Things didn’t improve for the Jaguars after intermission. Skyline extended their advantage by five more in the third and three more in the fourth for an easy 27 point victory. Lyons was limited in the second half but still led the way with 23. Senior forward Dai’Jai Thomas had 11 and classmate LaDerica Paul contributed 10 more. Cox got busy over the final two periods finishing with a double – double of 22 points and 11 rebounds.
6A Semifinal – Cypress Woods 79 San Antonio Wagner 60
The final game of the night featured two high powered offenses and neither Cypress Woods or San Antonio Wagner disappointed from the tip. The Wildcats got the win in the end and weren’t challenged down the stretch but they had to contend with hot shooting Amber Ramirez along the way making their path to the final full of potholes. Cy Woods jumped out to a 25 – 17 lead after one but Ramirez continued to zero in from long range. By the time halftime rolled around things were knotted up at 38 and the future Oklahoma State Cowgirl had made 7 of 9 threes and had 25 points. Junior post Nancy Mulkey had 10 for the Wildcats and senior Erica Ogwumike added nine more. Mulkey and company took things into their own hands after the break and outscored the Thunderbirds 18 – 6 in the third and for good measure added seven more to the total over the course of the final period. Ramirez was held to just six more points and limited to only one three pointer in the second half. Cy Woods had four in double figures with Mulkey leading the way with a 21 and 14 double – double. Freshman Cate Reese had a double – double of her own with 15 and 12 while Ogwumike finished with 19 points and nine rebounds. Junior wing Jasmine Williams scored 17 more. Ramirez’s 31 came on 11 for 26 from the floor, 8 of 15 which came from long range. Sophomore Kiana Williams was in double figures as well finishing the night with 14.
