Coming off its first appearance in a University Interscholastic League state tournament under first-year coach Duane Hopper in 2017-18, the Hermleigh girls basketball team knew it was going to take everyone’s best shot this season.
The Lady Cardinals are now one win away from giving Hopper state tournament berths in each of his first two seasons as a coach after knocking off Veribest 44-39 in a Region II-1A semifinal Friday night at Abilene Christian University’s Moody Coliseum.
Hermleigh’s performance wasn’t always pretty, but it was enough to earn the Lady Cardinals a spot in Saturday’s region championship game against Rankin.
