Category: Girls basketball

by Mike Lee, Special to Big Country Preps

FEATURE: No. 16 Brookesmith Lady Mustangs chasing first district title in 14 years

NOTE: Action photos by Jennifer Barrow, adviser of the Brookesmith yearbook. Brookesmith team photo by Sutherland Photography of Goldthwaite.

Danny Copeland was retired from coaching two years ago when he accepted an administrative position at Class 1A Brookesmith High School, located near Brownwood.

Now back in coaching, Copeland is on the verge of guiding the Brookesmith Lady Mustangs to their first district championship in basketball in 14 years.

The Brookesmith girls took a significant step toward winning their first district title since 2006 with Friday’s 44-32 road win over the perennially strong May Lady Tigers. Brookesmith (18-3 overall) completed the first half of District 18-1A with a 6-0 record and is ranked No. 16 in this week’s Texas Association of Basketball Coaches 1A statewide poll.

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by Evan Ren

EVAN REN: This week in Big Country girls basketball (Jan. 20-26)

With things heating up on basketball courts around the Big Country, it is once again time to take a quick peek at the latest happenings in girls hoops. 

As always, Big Country Preps will be hitting the trail each Tuesday and Friday night to cover the top matchups in the area. 

That said, let’s dive in. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

LOCAL HOOPS ROUNDUP: Cooper girls pick up 20th win, AHS boys improve to 5-0 in 3-6A

WICHITA FALLS — The Cooper girls basketball team improved to 2-1 in District 4-5A play Friday and picked up its 20th win of the season in the process, routing Wichita Falls High 74-20. 

The game was well in hand after a quarter as the Lady Coogs raced out to a 22-3 lead eight minutes in and increased that to 39-12 by halftime before cruising in the second half to a comfortable win.

Continue reading “LOCAL HOOPS ROUNDUP: Cooper girls pick up 20th win, AHS boys improve to 5-0 in 3-6A” →

by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Haskell, Stamford split varsity doubleheader with consecutive blowouts

STAMFORD — A pair of old area rivals took turns whipping each other on Friday as Haskell and Stamford split a varsity doubleheader at SHS.
The Haskell girls opened the evening with a 62-38 win, after which the Stamford boys got some payback, dropping the Indians 72-37 in the nightcap. 

Landry and Delaney Hanson scored 13 points each and Melody Martinez added 12 more to pace the 11th-ranked Haskell girls (21-3,  3-0), who took advantage of Stamford foul trouble to put the Lady Bulldogs away in the fourth quarter. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Wylie girls knock off Aledo for first district win, boys drop 4-5A opener

The Wylie girls basketball team picked up a much-needed win Friday night, rallying from an early fourth-quarter deficit to knock off Aledo 35-31 and avoid an 0-3 start to District 4-5A play.

The Lady Bulldogs outscored the Ladycats 10-7 in the fourth quarter, including 10-5 over the final six minutes to improve to 14-13 on the year and put themselves firmly back in the district race with five league games remaining.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY GIRLS STATISTICAL LEADERS (Scoring, rebounds, assists and steals through Jan. 16)

Each Thursday at 7 p.m., Big Country Preps will publish area girls basketball statistical leaders.

This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.

Teams that do not submit their statistics in a given week will not be listed when our stats are posted, but will be added to the lists below as they are received in the coming days. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Podcast No. 77: Evan Daniel discuss Jim Ned basketball with coach Eric Phelps

Since taking over the Jim Ned boys basketball program, coach Eric Phelps has put his stamp on a program that has long been one of the Big Country’s best.

Earlier this week, Phelps joined Big Country Preps’ Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood to discuss this year’s team, the pressure of leading one of the area’s most successful programs and his time as a Texas Tech student manager under Bobby Knight for this week’s Capital Farm Credit Wednesday Night Podcast.

Also in this episode, Evan and Daniel discuss the retirement announcement of longtime Wylie football coach Hugh Sandifer as well as the other prominent Big Country coaches who hung up their whistles this school year.

by Daniel Youngblood

LOCAL HOOPS ROUNDUP: AHS girls pick up first district win, Wylie boys top Graham

The Abilene High girls basketball team picked up its first district win Tuesday, building a 22-11 halftime lead and holding on over the final two quarters to beat Haltom City Haltom 48-44 at Eagle Gym.

AHS, now 12-15 overall, got 20 points from Trakenya (KK) Roberson and seven apiece from Syncere Reed and Justine Martinez in improving to 1-4 in District 3-6A play.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Fast start fuels Cooper girls to home rout of Wylie

Coming off losses in their respective district openers on Friday, the Cooper and Wylie girls basketball teams entered their crosstown matchup Tuesday at Cougar Gym needing a win to avoid an 0-2 start to league play.

That urgency was evident for the Lady Cougars, who scored the game’s first seven points and never trailed in routing the Lady Bulldogs 69-40. 

The win, which improved Cooper to 19-8 overall and 1-1 in District 4-5A action, provided a nice rebound performance from last week’s 50-45 loss at Aledo and was the product, coach Arsenio Geter said, of an important discussion during Monday’s practice.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Breckenridge senior takes the top spot

Not only are the Breckenridge Buckaroos off to a flying start at 17-3, but senior guard Aaryn Medina is drawing plenty of attention as well. 

Our Big Country Preps Player of the Week lit up both Boyd (64-28) and Millsap (72-57) to lead the Buckaroos to a district sweep last week, with an eye-popping 35-point scoring average for the two games. 

Along the way, he collected a total of 20 rebounds, eight assists and nine steals to keep the Buckaroos unbeaten in district play at 3-0. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

LOCAL HOOPS ROUNDUP: Abilene High boys stay perfect in district with win at Central

SAN ANGELO — The Abilene High boys basketball team used a 21-point second quarter to erase a first-quarter deficit and took complete control after halftime in a 53-35 win over San Angelo Central on Friday.

Trailing 10-8 after one period, the Eagles outscored the Bobcats 38-20 over the middle two quarters to improve to 16-8 on the year and 3-0 in District 3-6A play.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Freshman leads Rider past Lady Bulldogs, Frenship too much for Wylie boys

Freshman forward Jalynn Bristow came within three points of matching Wylie’s team scoring total Friday in leading the Wichita Falls Rider girls basketball team to a 48-30 road win over the Lady Bulldogs in the District 4-5A opener for both teams.

Bristow, one of the top freshmen in the state, scored 27 points on 12 made field goals to put the Lady Raiders in control early and for good at Bulldog Gym.

Behind the freshman phenom, who set a school-record with 42 points earlier this season against Odessa Permian, Rider built a 26-13 halftime lead and added to it in each of the final two quarters to improve to 22-1 on the season.

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by Daniel Youngblood

LOCAL HOOPS ROUNDUP: Cooper girls cruise past Sweetwater, Coogs top Graham

SWEETWATER — Trailing Sweetwater 19-17 after one quarter Tuesday, the Cooper girls basketball team bounced back with an 18-2 through the second period and cruised from there to a 62-34 nondistrict victory over the Lady Mustangs.

Jennika Willis scored 15 points, while Kaleigha Kemp and Dazz Larkins added 11 and 10 points, respectively, to help the Lady Cougars improve to 18-7 on the year.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Ballinger sweeps Brady in District 4-3A play

BALLINGER — The Ballinger basketball teams had no issues in sweeping Brady on Tuesday night at Joe A. Forester Gymnasium.

The Lady Bearcats came away with a 60-28 win to remain tied for the district lead with Wall, while the boys team jumped out to a fast start and never looked back on its way to a 56-30 win.

Continue reading “GAME STORY: Ballinger sweeps Brady in District 4-3A play” →

by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Brownwood’s Thompson snags first award of 2020

As the Brownwood Lady Lady Lions gain momentum as a team, their offensive leader has remained steady throughout an up-and-down 13-9 season and current five-game winning streak. 

Senior forward Matyah Thompson, has been a rock of consistency thus far, but most recently her efforts placed her among the area’s elite — so much so that she has garnered our first Big Country Preps Player of the Week award of 2020. 

That’s saying a lot, considering this week’s award is the only accolade we give over the span of two weeks, to cover games played over the Christmas break. And as you’ll see, there were several great efforts from players around the area. 

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Merkel sweeps Stanton on special night at MHS

MERKEL — The 1000-point barrier is a celebrated milestone that few high school players achieve. So when Merkel senior Kayde Pursley topped the very rare 1,500-point plateau last week against Brownfield, those close to the program made up their minds to do something special in her return game on Friday at MHS. 

Following a 59-7 blowout of Stanton, an announcement of Pursley’s accomplishment was read over the PA system, after which she was presented with a banner showing her climb through the milestones, along with a plaque.  The brief ceremony preceded the boys game which saw Merkel hold off a Stanton rally for a 52-39 win to complete a doubleheader sweep.  

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by Daniel Youngblood

LOCAL HOOPS ROUNDUP: Abilene High boys open district with win, Cooper girls top Odessa High

NORTH RICHLAND HILLS — The Abilene High boys basketball team opened District 3-6A play with a 57-56 win over North Richland Hills Richland on Friday, outscoring the Rebels 16-13 in the third quarter to break a 31-all tie before hanging on in the final period for the victory.

Paced by Nathan Watts, whose 22 points led all scorers, the Eagles edged Richland 26-25 over the final two quarters to improve to 14-8 overall and 1-0 in league action.

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by Evan Ren

EVAN REN: Big Country Preps Top 10 Stories for 2019

It’s never easy picking the top 10 stories of the year for the Big Country Preps coverage area. 

Stretching from Forsan in the west to Brock in the east and from San Saba in the south to Munday in the north, there are literally thousands of athletes producing countless stories to choose from. 

Pairing all of that down to just 10 examples forces one to leave out several notable options on a yearly basis. The upside of all this is that the area is never short on quality stories to reflect on. 

So as we say goodbye to the year 2019, we salute those local athletes and coaches who produced yet another memorable year for the entire area. 

Without further ado, let’s take a look at the top stories from last year, in descending order:

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by Daniel Youngblood

FEATURE: Gritty Lady Loboes picking up where they left off despite graduation losses

After losing three key seniors from last year’s 31-4 squad, the Cisco girls basketball team was expected by some to take a significant step backward this season.

Those folks clearly underestimated the leadership and grit of the 2019-20 Lady Loboes.

While the losses of district offensive MVP Leigh Anne Montell, district defensive MVP Katelyn Bird and first-team all-district pick Lauren Underwood have certainly been felt, they haven’t flung Cisco into the rebuilding phase some viewed as inevitable.

In fact, after a 2-0 start to District 6-3A play and a run to the championship game of the Eula Holiday Classic over the weekend, the Lady Loboes are looking like a threat once again in a stacked Region I-3A field.

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by Daniel Youngblood

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL: Eula, Cisco, Eastland to compete for title on Day 2 of Holiday Classic

There will be three Big Country teams in the Eula Holiday Classic girls semifinals Saturday after successful runs Friday by Eula, Cisco and Eastland.

Eula defeated Eastland 26-24 in what was essentially an exhibition to open the tournament, and both the Lady Pirates and Lady Mavs followed that performance with quarterfinal wins to secure spots in the semis. Eula throttled Tolar 40-24 to earn a matchup with Cisco, while Eastland blasted Clyde 48-23 to advance to take on Mason.

Cisco claimed its spot in Saturday’s semifinals with a 42-36 win over Holliday in the first round and a 59-55 double-overtime victory over Colorado City in the quarters.

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by Daniel Youngblood

LOCAL HOOPS ROUNDUP: AHS and Cooper girls, Wylie boys wrap up fall semester with wins

Leading San Angelo Lake View by seven points at halftime on Friday, the Abilene High girls basketball team outscored the Maidens 37-12 over the final two quarters to earn a 62-30 win and head into the Christmas break on a high note.

The Lady Eagles, who had lost three straight games and six of the previous seven heading into Friday’s matchup, got off to a fast start against Lake View, racing out to a 16-7 lead after a quarter. But the Lady Eagles were outscored 11-9 in the second quarter, keeping the Maidens within striking distance at the break.

That changed rapidly after halftime, though, as AHS outscored Lake View 19-6 in the third quarter to take complete control of the game.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Jim Ned dominates Merkel in District 5-3A action

TUSCOLA — The Jim Ned girls basketball team will head into the Christmas break on a high note after dominating Merkel 66-21 in a key District 5-3A game Friday at Bill Thornton Arena.

Brooke Galvin had 24 points to lead a group of four Lady Indians in double digits. Claire Graham added 15 points, while Ashton Garner scored 11 and Ashlynn Galvin had 10 to help fourth-ranked Jim Ned improve to 17-2 on the season and 2-0 in district.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Big second half fuels Wylie girls past Brownwood

Trailing former district rival Brownwood by 13 points at halftime Friday at Bulldog Gym, the Wylie girls basketball team outscored the Lady Lions 31-6 over the final two quarters to head into the Christmas break with a 46-34 win.

After struggling through a forgettable first half, the Lady Bulldogs ratcheted up the defensive pressure and turned their success on that end of the floor into easy buckets on offense, pulling within one by the end of the third quarter before taking control in the fourth.

WHS, which improved to 9-8 with the victory, shut Brownwood out in the third quarter and held the Lady Lions to just one second-half field goal in the victory.

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by Daniel Youngblood

LOCAL HOOPS ROUNDUP: AHS girls fall in district opener, CHS boys drop thriller at Brownwood

EULESS — The Abilene High girls basketball team fell behind early and could never recover Tuesday in a 47-37 loss to Euless Trinity in its District 3-6A opener. 

The Lady Eagles trailed 15-5 after a quarter and 20-12 at halftime, before the Lady Trojans put the game away with a 16-8 run through the third quarter.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: No. 11 Stephenville girls run away from feisty Cooper squad

Playing without star post Alee McClendon, who injured her knee over the weekend, the No. 11 Stephenville Honeybees answered every Cooper run with one of their own Tuesday to score a 54-40 road win over the Lady Cougars.

After seeing a 16-7 first-quarter lead trimmed to four points at halftime, Stephenville opened the third quarter with a 6-0 spurt and absorbed one final Cooper rally to improve to 15-4 on the season.

Sophomore guard Jaylee Matthews led the Honeybee effort in McClendon’s absence, hitting four of her team’s eight 3-pointers on her way to a game-high 17 points.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Strong effort nets Brownwood senior the top spot

In a week that saw several top-flight performances, Brownwood senior Zach Strong handed in a genuine rarity — topping the 1000-point mark for his career while helping the Lions to a perfect record and tournament championship. 

Helping Brownwood to a 5-0 record on the week, including a tournament title in Hamilton, Strong averaged 18.2 points and 7.8 rebounds per game to earn all-tournament honors and our final Big Country Preps Player of the Week award of 2019.

Continue reading “BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Strong effort nets Brownwood senior the top spot” →

by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Abilene High girls honor Roberson milestone, fall to Jim Ned

Before its home game against Jim Ned on Friday night, the Abilene High girls basketball team took time to honor one of its own — junior guard KK Roberson.

Roberson scored the 1,000th point of her career in AHS’ tournament last weekend, and the Lady Eagles recognized her for the achievement prior to their final nondistrict tuneup before opening District 3-6A play on Tuesday at Euless Trinity.

After hanging with the Lady Indians for the first half, the Abilene High offense went cold in the third quarter as Jim Ned pulled away for a 51-22 win at Eagle Gym.

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by Evan Ren

FEATURE: First-year Haskell coach Michael Skelton adds up-tempo wrinkles to already successful program

HASKELL — To say that first-year Haskell girls basketball coach Michael Skelton has a tough act to follow might be the understatement of the 2019-20 season. 

Replacing former coach Blake Eddleman, who stepped down in the spring, Skelton inherited a program that had won six district titles over a seven-year span, reaching the regional quarterfinals three times and the regional semis once.  The Maidens were 178-41 under Eddleman, leaving a bit of a pressure cooker for whomever was chosen to keep that success going.

Skelton, a Jayton native who was coaching in Slocum last season, wanted the Haskell gig and all the expectations that went with it. 

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Jim Ned sweeps archrival Wall in hoops doubleheader (w/three videos and two box scores)

TUSCOLA — It wasn’t a postseason matchup. It wasn’t even for a higher spot in a district race. But Tuesday’s early-December visit by the Wall Hawks for a nondistrict doubleheader with Jim Ned carried the same weight it usually does it Tuscola, bringing a large, enthusiastic crowd to Bill Thornton Arena.

Those clad in red left happy following a varsity sweep of Wall — the Lady Indians defeating WHS 50-33 in the opener and the Jim Ned boys downing the Hawks 47-44 in the nightcap. 

Brooke Galvin scored 20 points and Alexis Espinosa added 10 more to lead the Jim Ned girls (14-2), who built a 13-3 first-quarter lead and managed to stave off any serious threats the rest of the evening.

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by Daniel Youngblood

LOCAL HOOPS ROUNDUP: Wylie boys, girls sweep Central on home floor

The Wylie girls basketball team used a strong first half to build a comfortable lead and held on through some offensive struggles in the second to secure a 28-22 win over San Angelo Central on Tuesday at Bulldog Gym.

The Lady Bulldogs outscored the Lady Cats 12-5 in the first quarter and 11-8 in the second to take a 10-point lead into halftime before going cold late. Wylie scored just three points in the third quarter and two in the fourth but did enough on the defensive end to improve to 8-6 with the win.

Continue reading “LOCAL HOOPS ROUNDUP: Wylie boys, girls sweep Central on home floor” →

by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Merkel’s Pursley earns this week’s top spot

It’s one thing to play great against teams from your own classification. But when one plays at a high level against programs much larger than his or her own, it tends to grab everyone’s attention. 

Merkel senior guard Kaydi Pursley, who has already been on the media’s radar for more than two years, may have just upped her assessed value even more (if that’s possible). 

Purlsey, who helped the Lady Badgers to a 4-1 mark last week, including a 3-1 finish at the Granbury tournament, put up big numbersagainst some big schools along the way to earn our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

FEATURE: Merkel’s White twins double trouble for opposing teams

MERKEL —Most girls basketball coaches would be happy with one post player as talented as Merkel twins Alyssa and Alaunna White. So MHS coach Laura Lange knows how fortunate she is to have the package deal.

The 5-foot-9 sisters that Lange calls her “crash crew” play a key role on both ends of the floor for the 11-3 Lady Badgers. And whether they’re scoring inside, fighting for rebounds or locking down the opposition on defense, the two juniors are impact players in every sense of the word.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

BREAKING: Abilene High’s Roberson joins the 1,000-point club

Abilene High girls basketball guard Trakenya (KK) Roberson scored the 1,000th point of her high school career on Friday with a driving shot in the paint during the Lady Eagles tournament in Burleson.

The junior entered the weekend needing 69 points in the tournament and scored the bucket during a 74-47 loss to Mansfield Lake Ridge.

The achievement came early in the first quarter as she entered the game with 999 career points.

Continue reading “BREAKING: Abilene High’s Roberson joins the 1,000-point club” →

by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Eula, Haskell split varsity doubleheader (Video, two box scores and photo gallery included)

EULA — A varsity basketball doubleheader between Haskell and Eula yielded a split result on Tuesday at Eula Pirate Gymnasium with the Haskell girls rallying to taking the opener 45-37 and the Eula boys winning 56-41 in the nightcap. 

Early on, the EHS girls were well on their way to setting up a doubleheader sweep when they built a 30-20 lead with a big third quarter. But Haskell answered with a 15-0 run, beginning with a 3-pointer from Emma Roewe with 0:12 left in the period. The Maidens then opened final quarter with 12 straight points to take the lead for good. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Merkel girls ride big second quarter, stifling defense to win over Wylie

MERKEL — The Merkel Lady Badgers continued what’s been an excellent start to the season Tuesday, using a 17-point second quarter to take control of what was otherwise a defensive slugfest against the visiting Wylie Lady Bulldogs.

Playing a WHS team that was coming off a big nondistrict win over mutual rival Jim Ned, coach Laura Lange’s squad stifled the Lady Bulldogs from start to finish and did enough offensively in that second period to secure a 31-18 victory at Badger Gym.

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by Daniel Youngblood

BREAKING: UIL announces conference cutoffs for next two school years

The UIL announced the conference cutoffs for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years on Tuesday. Here are the cutoff figures and a list of where each school in the Big Country Preps coverage area will fall at the next district realignment.

An asterisk has been placed by every school that has changed divisions since the last alignment, with an arrow indicating which direction they’ve moved.

The UIL will announce the new districts for the next two athletic years during its biennial realignment on Feb. 3.

Continue reading “BREAKING: UIL announces conference cutoffs for next two school years” →

by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Hamlin’s Williams snags the award

He only had 15 carries on the day. But for Hamlin senior running back Jevon Williams, it was more than enough touches to earn our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award for a second time this season. 

Helping the Pied Pipers to a 56-22 rout of Wheeler, Williams tallied 196 yards rushing and seven touchdowns. He also added a 17-yard pass reception and a 42-yard punt return. 

Leading 22-21, Hamlin took control with five straight touchdowns between the 2:18 mark of the second quarter and the 5:18 mark of the fourth. 

Williams scored all five them, with runs of 4, 20, 65, 8 and 2 yards. 

With the win, Hamlin (10-2) advances to face Wellington (12-1) for the Region II-2A Division II championship at 7 p.m. Friday in Vernon. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Roberts late bucket lifts Wylie girls over Jim Ned 42-41

Leading 31-21 entering the fourth quarter and 40-33 with 2½ minutes left to play, the Wylie Lady Bulldogs seemed to have firm control of their nondistrict game against area rival Jim Ned on Tuesday at Bulldog Gym. But a furious rally by the Lady Indians left them needing a bucket in the final seconds to avoid a heartbreaking loss.

Enter senior post Bailey Roberts.

With her trailing 41-40 after an 11-0 Jim Ned run, Roberts took the ball in the post, calmly split a double team and finished strong at the rim for her 13th and 14th points of the game. That bucket, which left the Lady Indians just four seconds to answer, proved to be the game-winning shot in a thrilling 42-41 victory as Brooke Galvin’s desperation heave at the buzzer bounced off the back rim and out.

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