Category: Girls basketball

by Daniel Youngblood

2022 All-Big Country Preps Girls Basketball Rising Stars Team: The top underclassmen in the Big Country!

Ladies and gentlemen, we are proud to release our 2022 All-Big Country Preps girls basketball teams. 

Here, you will find our Rising Stars Team honoring the top freshmen and sophomores in the Big Country — starters, sixth man and reserves. 

For the rest of this year’s girls basketball selections, please click the links at the bottom of the next page.

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Gruver ends San Saba’s run in state semifinals

SAN ANTONIO — The San Saba Lady Dillos were handed a puzzle in the Alamodome on Friday — a puzzle which nobody has managed to figure out in 2022. 

And it was there, in the Class 2A girls state semifinals, where San Saba saw its season come to a close in a 69-29 loss to still unbeaten Gruver. 

Bailey Maupin scored 22 points while Camryn Armes and Kimber Whitehead added 11 and 10 respectively to lead Gruver (32-0), which advances to face Stamford in Saturday’s 2A state championship game. 

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Stamford holds off Martin’s Mill, advances to title game

SAN ANTONIO — With 7:24 to play, everything looked great for Stamford in Friday’s Class 2A state semifinal with Martin’s Mill. The Lady Bulldogs led 57-34 and all that stood between them and the 2A state championship game was a short stretch of clean basketball. 

Then it happened: Martin’s Mill exploded for 30 points in the final seven-minutes in an insane comeback attempt that nearly saw the Lady Mustangs pull off a miracle. 

Stamford survived the onslaught with a 68-64 win at the Alamodome that had coach Joe Crabb breathing a sigh of relief during the post-game news conference. 

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Sands’ pressure too much for Huckabay

SAN ANTONIO — Entering Thursday’s Class 1A state semifinal with Ackerly Sands, Huckabay girls coach Barry Gill was quite clear on what his team had to do to advance. And at the top of the list was finding a way to deal with Sands’ three-quarter court zone trap.

Unfortunately for the Lady Indians, they weren’t able to solve the puzzle in time to avert a 56-29 loss in the Alamodome. 

Victimized by Sands’ relentless pressure, the Lady Indians were forced to 32 turnovers in 32 minutes, allowing Sands to take nearly 30 more shots (55-26) on the day. 

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Robert Lee tops Neches, advances to title game

SAN ANTONIO — In a matchup of teams better known for their defense, Thursday’s Class 1A girls state semifinal between Robert Lee and Neches produced the trench war that many expected. 

In the end, Robert Lee walked away the survivor, edging Neches 46-44 in a game that featured six ties, four lead changes and a combined 26 steals.

Kailey Freeman scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds and Paige Immel added seven crucial points down the stretch to lead Robert Lee (35-2) which will face Ackerly Sands in the 1A state championship game on Saturday at 8:30 a.m. in the Alamodome. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

FEATURE: Jost, San Saba Lady Dillos make first year together a memorable one

Hired in June as the San Saba girls basketball coach, Chris Jost knew he had a tough act to follow.

Taking over the program from Alicia Cummings, who left for Mason after leading the Lady Dillos to a 269-70 record over 10 seasons, Jost was inheriting an outfit that was accustomed to winning and expected success. 

Fortunately, those same things were true of Jost, who brought with him to Central Texas 420 career wins, six district championships, six regional quarterfinals appearances, two region finals appearances and a state tournament berth over a 20-year career.

Thus far, the pairing has been undeniably successful. Set to close out their first year together at the Class 2A state tournament in San Antonio, both the Lady Dillos and their coach have worked together to make what could have been a difficult transition a seamless one.

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by Daniel Youngblood

FEATURE: Stamford senior Bevel thankful for opportunity to be part of state run

When Stamford standout Tylee Jo Bevel tore her ACL in June, she thought her high school basketball career was over.

Nursing an injury that often takes a full year of recovery time, Bevel had surgery in July expecting to be spectator for her final high school campaign. Fate, though, would have very different plans.

Not only has Bevel been able to get back on the court, she’s been an integral part of a spectacular run to the Lady Bulldogs’ first state tournament appearance. And as her team prepares for Friday’s Class 2A state semifinal matchup with Martin’s Mill, the 6-foot forward is beyond thankful to have gotten the opportunity to write a suitable ending for her decorated Stamford career.

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by Evan Ren

GIRLS STATE TOURNAMENT PREVIEW: Stamford, San Saba, Robert Lee and Huckabay head to San Antonio

SAN ANTONIO — Four shots … the Big Country has four shots to leave a permanent mark in the UIL history books. 

Bringing home a girls state basketball championship is a rare opportunity for most schools. But the Big Country is sending four clubs with a chance for this achievement in 2022.  And not surprisingly, all four come at the small school levels, which have long been area strongholds. 

Stamford and San Saba have reached the state equivalent to the Final Four in Class 2A, while Huckabay and Robert Lee have reached the same point in Class 1A. 

All four will converge in the Alamodome over the next two days — one win away from playing for a state championship. 

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by Evan Ren

CAPITAL FARM CREDIT/BCP PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Cisco’s Hearne takes the award after leading Loboes to regional

  

Clutch players are at their best in clutch moments, and Cisco senior Dawson Hearne has fit squarely into that category throughout his memorable high school career. 

His latest effort saw him drop a game-winning jumper with 0:03 left in a 43-42 area round win over eighth-ranked Tolar, during which he posted a double-double of 23 points and 10 rebounds. 

Earlier in the week our Capital Farm Credit/BCP Player of the week had also charted a double-double of 19 points, 11 boards and five assists as Cisco eliminated Windthorst, 58-33, in the bi-district round.  

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Robert Lee girls earn first trip to state in 45 years with come-from-behind win over Hermleigh

SNYDER — As her team climbed a ladder to cut down the nets in the wake of a 53-50 win over Hermleigh at Invenergy Court, Robert Lee coach Brandye Wilson struggled to keep the tears from flowing. 

She lost that battle. 

With the Lady Steers having won the Region II-1A title to earn their first trip to the state tournament in 45 years, the wave of emotion she felt as her players celebrated was too big to hold back. 

Overcoming an early 12-4 deficit, a jittery Robert Lee club rallied with a big second quarter and outlasted Hermleigh in a seesaw second half to get the win. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Stamford girls down defending champ Lipan to claim first state berth

McKINNEY — Facing the defending state champion Lipan Lady Indians with a trip to the Class 2A state tournament on the line, the Stamford Lady Bulldogs looked like anything but a team playing in its first region title game Saturday at McKinney North High School.

Having already achieved the program’s deepest playoff run ever with Friday’s 59-49 region semifinal win over Muenster, SHS led the Lipan wire to wire, building a double-digit lead in the third quarter before pulling away in the fourth for a 49-33 victory.

The victory, which extended the Lady Bulldogs’ streak of double-digit playoff wins to five, improved Stamford’s record to 34-2 and earned coach Joe Crabb’s squad a trip to San Antonio next week for the state tournament.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Stamford girls take care of No. 6 Muenster to earn first region final appearance

McKINNEY — The Stamford girls basketball team made a little history Friday night at McKinney North High School, rolling through No. 6 Muenster 59-49 in the Region II-2A semifinals to cement the 2021-22 campaign as their greatest season ever.

The Lady Bulldogs never trailed after the 1:27 mark of the first quarter, increasing their lead to 20 points in the fourth before the Lady Hornets got hot from 3-point range late to pull back within 10 by the final buzzer.

The victory improved SHS to 32-2 on the year, earning the Lady Bulldogs their first region championship appearance in program history. They’ll now take on defending state champion Lipan (31-5) at 1:30 p.m. Saturday with a spot at the Class 2A state tournament on the line.

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Canadian tops Jim Ned in regional thriller

WOLFFORTH — Trailing Canadian by three with six seconds to play, the Jim Ned Lady Indians had the shot they wanted and the player they wanted taking it — senior guard Claire Graham. 

As fate would have it, however, Graham’s shot went in, bounced out, went in again and then bounced out again to leave Jim Ned on the short end of an eventual 37-32 loss in the Region I-3A semifinals on Friday.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Hermleigh girls take down Eula in regional quarterfinals

For Duane Hopper, there truly is no place like home.

The former Wylie standout guard returned to his former gym on Tuesday night as the coach of the Hermleigh girls, and after a 54-39 win over Eula, Hopper has the Lady Cardinals in the regional tournament for the fifth consecutive year.

Having also starred for Hardin-Simmons University, having the chance to lead a team in front of his hometown crowd is something that he relishes, especially when Hermleigh was the only school to give him an opportunity coming out of HSU.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: No. 5 Jim Ned girls ride fast start to blowout win over Brock, advance to I-3A semis

CISCO — After getting off to a slow start in its area-round win over Holliday on Friday, the Jim Ned girls basketball team took a distinctly different path Monday against Brock.

The fifth-ranked Lady Indians raced out to a 19-5 first-quarter lead and never let the Lady Eagles recover in a 61-34 win in a region quarterfinal matchup at Ray Saunders Gym.

Jim Ned frustrated Brock with its pressure defense and made shot after shot on the other end to cruise into the Region I-3A tournament later this week at Wolfforth Frenship High School.

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by Evan Ren

CAPITAL FARM CREDIT/BCP PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Stamford’s Gutierrez claims this week’s award

Stamford softball ace Citlaly Gutierrez is no stranger to the Capital Farm Credit/BCP Player of the Week column, having made multiple appearances in its top 10 since her freshman year three years ago. 

Having helped SHS to a Class 2A state title last spring, the senior right-hander picked up right where she left off last week, posting a 3-0 record against three straight larger schools at the Brock tournament. 

Earning wins over Wichita Falls City View (4-0), Brock (1-0) and Mansfield Legacy (4-1), Gutierrez finished with 41 strikeouts and only one run allowed in three starts. This included 15 Ks in the win over Legacy. 

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Brock girls advance to regional quarterfinals with 53-26 win over Coahoma

CLYDE — A combination of Brock’s defense and foul trouble ended the Coahoma girl’s season on Saturday in a 53-26 area round win for the Lady Eagles. 

Hallie McPherson scored 17 points and Halli Hyatt added 14 more to lead Brock, which advances to face Jim Ned in the Region I-3A quarterfinals at 6 p.m. on Monday in Cisco.  

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: No. 13 Stamford girls overwhelm Tolar in 70-28 area-round win

EASTLAND — Playing a Tolar team that had amassed 26 wins coming into Friday’s Region II-2A area-round matchup at Marshall Gym, the 13th-ranked Stamford girls basketball team didn’t want to give the Lady Rattlers any opportunity to get momentum on their side. 

So the Lady Bulldogs didn’t.

Instead, coach Joe Crabb’s squad opened the game on a 17-2 run and cruised from there to a dominating 70-28 win to advance to the Region II-2A quarterfinals where they’ll face district mate Haskell next week at a time, date and place to be determined.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Jim Ned girls turn slow start into big win over Holliday

STAMFORD — Heading into Friday’s Region I-3A area-round matchup with Holliday, the fifth-ranked Jim Ned girls basketball team had won 31 games by 1,100 points, an average of 35.5 points per game.

While it wasn’t as comfortable as most of their games this year, just eight of which were decided by 15 points or less, the Lady Indians were able to move on in their pursuit of their third state championship with a 59-36 win over the Lady Eagles at Bulldog Gymnasium.

Jim Ned has made the state tournament three times in school history, winning the title in the 1993-94 and 2007-08 seasons and falling in the semifinals in 2011-12 to Brock, which went on to win the title. To get back to state this year, the Lady Indians will first need to survive a brutal Region I-3A field.

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by Mike Lee, Special to Big Country Preps

GAME STORY: Goldthwaite girls see their season end in 38-34 loss to Three Rivers

DRIPPING SPRINGS – The Three Rivers Lady Bulldogs rallied from a nine-point deficit in the third quarter and beat the Goldthwaite Lady Eagles 38-34 Thursday night in a Class 2A girls’ area playoff basketball game.

Guard Andrea Valdez made a 3-point shot that gave Three Rivers a 36-34 lead with 34 seconds left to play. After a Goldthwaite turnover, Three Rivers missed two free throws, but Amie Valdez grabbed the rebound. The Lady Eagles were forced to foul, and Mayah Brogdon made two free throws that extended the Lady Bulldogs’ lead to 38-34 with 18 seconds left.

Three Rivers (26-8) advanced to play the winner of Friday’s Mason-Port Aransas game. Goldthwaite (22-13) finished fourth in District 29-2A this season and was hoping for a rematch with Mason in the regional quarterfinals for the second consecutive season.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: No. 4 Robert Lee runs away from Santa Anna to kick off playoff run

WINTERS — It took fourth-ranked Robert Lee Lady Steers a few minutes to get going in their playoff opener Tuesday against Santa Anna. But once they did, the points piled up in a hurry.

Leading just 6-4 midway through the first quarter, the District 11-1A champions closed the first half on a 34-4 run and cruised from there to a 68-22 win at Blizzard Gym. 

The victory improved Robert Lee to 29-2 on the season and set up a playoff rematch with Rankin, which ended the Lady Steers’ season a year ago.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Westbrook girls survive Cross Plains upset bid

MERKEL — The Westbrook girls basketball team learned an important lesson Tuesday night at Badger Gymnasium: a return trip to the UIL state tournament is not going to be easy.

The Lady Cats had to fight and claw their way to a 37-30 win over Cross Plains in a Region II-1A bi-district playoff to start the defense of their region title.

Westbrook coach Jeff Bontranger was proud of the way his team battled in a game that was tightly contested on defense.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Quick start lifts Eula past Ira in bi-district playoff

MERKEL — Nyellie Lee scored a game-high 19 points and the Eula girls basketball team held Ira scoreless in the first quarter in a 64-26 win in a Region II-1A bi-district game Tuesday night at Badger Gymnasium.

The win came on coach Josh Fostel’s 44th birthday, marking the second day in a row an area coach earned a playoff win on his birthday in Merkel.

Eula led 18-0 after the opening quarter and scored the first 21 points of the game in rolling to the easy win.

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Coahoma girls rally twice to eliminate Ballinger

STERLING CITY — The Coahoma girls may have rewritten the book on how to do things the hard way in Tuesday’s 3A bi-district matchup with Ballinger, rallying twice to defeat the Lady Cats 49-47 at Sterling City High School. 

Isabella Cox scored 21 points while Madison Rogers, Shae Lange and Baylor Wright added seven apiece to lead Coahoma (23-10), which advances to face perennial power Brock in the area round. 

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Anson defense stymies Seymour as Lady Tigers advance

ANSON — With the performance of their defense, the Anson girls had plenty of time to settle in offensively in Monday’s 2A bi-district matchup with Seymour. 

But as it turned out, the Lady Tigers got enough production to walk away with a lopsided 55-29 win at Graham High School. 

Mattie Dollar scored a game-high 22 points and Gracie Feagan added 14 more to lead Anson (23-7), which now advances to face Lipan on Thursday in Eastland. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME RECAP: Wylie girls’ season comes to end with bi-district loss to Canyon Randall

LUBBOCK — The Wylie girls basketball team saw its season come to an end Monday with a 55-45 loss to Canyon Randall in a Region I-5A bi-district matchup at Lubbock Estacado.

The loss ends a strong stretch for the Lady Bulldogs, who rallied from an 0-3 start to District 4-5A play with wins in five of their last seven district games to reach the postseason. Randall, the District 3-5A runner-up, was the first unranked opponent to beat Wylie during its 5-3 season-ending run.

WHS, which will graduate only one senior, closed its season at 15-18, while Randall (22-12) will advance to take on the winner of El Paso El Dorado and El Paso Bowie in the area round later this week.

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Honeybees advance with bi-district rout of Iowa Park

GRAHAM — If there was any mystery involved in Monday’s Class 4A bi-district matchup between Stephenville and Iowa Park, it was answered in the first eight minutes at Graham High School. 

Using a 19-4 first-quarter run, the Honeybees remained in control from start to finish in a 60-33 win. 

Mya Wesley scored 20 points and Mya Wilson added 17 more to pace Stephenville (25-10), which limited Iowa Park to three field goals in the first 13 minutes of play. The Honeybees (25-9) now advance to face top-ranked Argyle (33-0) at 6 p.m. on Thursday in Weatherford.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Munday girls take care of Rotan, claim first playoff win since 2012

HAMLIN — Later this week, the Munday girls basketball team will compete in the area round of the playoffs for the fifth time since 2015. But this trip will taste just a little bit sweeter for the Mogulettes, who defeated Rotan 37-25 in the bi-district round Monday to secure their first playoff win since 2012.

MHS, which drew byes through the first round in each of its last four trips to the area round, including in 2020 and 2021, will reach that point having already tasted postseason victory this year.

And first-year Munday coach Brad Johnson expects that to be a confidence booster heading into the next game against the winner of Tuesday’s matchup between Eula and Ira.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Dominant third quarter lifts Highland past May

MERKEL — The Highland girls basketball team had a simple directive from coach Kyle Johnson for its Region II-1A bi-district game against May on Monday at Merkel’s Badger Gymnasium.

Win.

The Lady Hornets listened and, after a sluggish start, dominated the Lady Tigers for a 42-18 win on Johnson’s 45th birthday.

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