SAN ANTONIO, Texas—Day one of the 65th Annual UIL Texas Girls’ Basketball State tournament featured the odd numbered classes as 1A, 3A and 5A got things underway in the Alamodome. Blue Star Media was on hand from tip off to finish and will be courtside throughout for the remaining semifinals tomorrow and all six championship contests on Saturday. Today and tomorrow we’ll offer a synopsis of the day’s action and following the completion of the event provide an extended look at some of the top performers from the Lone Star State who were on hand.
Thursday
1A Semifinal – Lipan 55 Garden City 28
Lipan jumped out to a quick and convincing 15 to 2 lead after the first period and never looked back. Garden City could manage just 18 percent from the floor for the first half and went into the locker room trailing 30 – 10. Impressive junior wing Lanie Roberts outscored the Lady Kats by herself posting 16 points over the first 16 minutes on a 7 of 13 effort from the floor. Garden City didn’t help their offensive situation with 10 turnovers in the first half. Lipan was outscored in the third by just one point but extended the lead to the 27 point final margin with a 14 – 6 fourth period. Roberts finished with a double – double of 25 points and 12 rebounds. She went 9 for 18 from the field and 5 of 6 from the line while contributing 5 assists and 3 steals in the win. Senior forward Holly Huffman led Garden City in the loss with 15 points and 11 boards.
1A Semifinal – Nazareth 61 D’Hanis 18
D’Hanis couldn’t have imagined their 27 and 6 season would end on such a cold note but 15 percent shooting isn’t going to punch anyone’s ticket to a championship game. An impressive, well balanced Nazareth team had a big hand in the Cowgirl’s offensive struggles and went on to capitalize on the resulting frosty effort and claim a 61 – 18 win. D’Hanis managed just a single point in the first period and two more in the second while shooting just 5.3 percent on 1 of 19 shooting to trail 25 – 3 at the half. Nazareth’s defense helped their cause by forcing 12 turnovers before the break as well. Sophomore guard Allie Schulte had 11 for the Swiftettes in the first half. D’Hanis posted 15 points over the final two quarters but unfortunately Nazareth added 36 of their own to extend the final margin to 43. Schulte added just two more to finish with 13 and junior Hannah Leavitt contributed 10 more as nine Swiftettes played double figure minutes. The Cowgirls got seven points each from sophomore Shelby Gayre and senior Mallory McCollum.
3A Semifinal – Shallowater 63 Jarrell 50
The day’s third game started out looking like the earlier contests as Shallowater jumped out to a 22 – 9 lead after one. Jarrell was still outscored in the second but only gave up two more points to the lead and trailed 38 – 23 at the half. Senior Kelsee Smith paced the balanced first half attack of Shallowater leading the way with eight points. The Lady Cougars capitalized on their second period momentum and cut into the lead over the course of the third period entering the final quarter trailing by just 12. Jarrell would cut the lead to single digits with just under two minutes to play but could not get closer than two possessions before resorting to the obligatory foul process that brought the lead back to 13 in the end. Smith finished with 15 and classmate Hannah Almsted chipped in 10 more. Junior guard Breanna Wright led the Lady Cougars in the loss with 31, 17 of which came from her 17 of 22 free throw performance. Cougar Sophomore Julie Tucker had a double – double finishing her season with a 14 point – 15 rebound effort.
3A Semifinal – Sunnyvale 71 Rockdale 27
Sunnyvale held Rockdale to single digit scoring in all four periods on their way to a strong 71 – 27 win. The Raiders opened up with an 18 – 7 period and followed that with a 16 – 6 run to lead at the half 34 – 13. Senior guard Grace Goodhart lived up to her reputation going 6 of 11 to lead the way with 14 in the first 16 minutes. Sunnyvale created much of their offense off 12 turnovers committed by the Tigers. An 18 – 8 third and 19 – 6 fourth led to the final gap and Sunnyvale’s ticket to Saturday’s final. While Goodhart finished with 21 on 8 of 15 shooting it was fellow senior Karah Sicurella who cut loose in the second half to lead the way with 23 points. Her 10 for 13 shooting effort and 12 rebounds set the standard in the win. Their classmate and fellow guard Bria Johnson went 6 of 10 and finished with 16 of her own. Junior forward De’Jhoria Robertson and senior forward Jamiere McBride both had 10 for Rockdale.
5A Semifinal – Canyon 59 Bryan Rudder 46
Easily the day’s most competitive game to this point saw the defending champs from Canyon taken deep into the fourth quarter by Bryan Rudder before prevailing 59 – 46. The Lady Rangers refused to go quietly and kept within reach until less than a minute remained and the fouls took their toll. Canyon got out of the gate leading by two after the first period before they used a 13 – 5 second quarter to hold a 25 – 15 halftime advantage. Sophomore point guard Angel Hayden got deep in the paint multiple times and produced 10 points for the half. Rudder got 11 from dynamic sophomore forward Brianna Suber. The third saw the Lady Rangers close the gap with a 13 – 7 run entering the final period trailing by just four at 32 – 28. Over the final eight minutes Canyon tried to extend the lead and each time Rudder would close once again to single digits. Ultimately fouls and free throw attempts sealed the win for Canyon though they were actually outscored from the floor by one. Three players fouled out for Rudder in the loss and they saw the Eagles go to the line 27 times to their 11 as they fell by a final margin of 13. Hayden led Canyon with 21 while Suber got 22 in the loss on 9 of 15 shooting before fouling out.
5A Semifinal – Dallas Adams 65 Cedar Park Vista Ridge 64
There’s no question that the best was saved for last on day one of the 2015 UIL Texas Girls State Basketball Tournament. Dallas Adams and Cedar Park Vista Ridge did justice to what everyone expects from playoff basketball right down to the last two seconds of play. Adams claimed a spot Saturday’s 5A final but it didn’t come easy. They looked shaky the first few possessions but settled down and opened up a 20 – 11 lead after the first period. Vista Ridge held their own over the second giving up just one more point to the lead heading into intermission trailing 35 – 25. Adams Forward Fabrianna Dixon had 12 and Dabrasia Baty contributed 10 on a combined 9 of 14 from the floor. The Lady Rangers got 10 of their own from junior guard Mikayla Christian. Vista Ridge cut it to one but the 16 – 15 Cougar third kept the lead in double digits entering the fourth…and then things got interesting. Adams stretched it to 13 with 3:21 to go before a furious Vista Ridge 16 to 2 run culminated in the Lady Rangers taking a one point lead with just 11 seconds remaining. Dixon had enough and took the lead right back converting on the right block with no trouble giving her 18 for the game. The horn sounded but the officials appropriately reset the clock to 2.6 seconds. Following a couple of time outs Vista Ridge was unable to answer on the full court inbounds ending their comeback effort. Dixon’s 18 led four senior Cougars in double figures. Dynamic guard Alexus Gilbert finished with 14, Baty had 13 and Jerice Fears had a double – double with 11 points and 14 boards. The Lady Rangers got 23 from Christian that included 4 of 8 from long range while junior Danielle Rainey chipped in 14 more in the loss.
