GHS—FROSTDAY3
By GALEN WELLNICKI
Saturday—the final day of the 38th Annual Jack Frost Invitational—was a good experience for the Georgetown Lady Eagles as they won two games that were as different as bland vanilla wafers and jalapeno-laced green chili stew.
In the morning Silver Bracket semifinals, Georgetown, playing far from its best basketball for most of the contest, survived state-ranked San Antonio Incarnate Word, 50-48, in overtime and then in the mid-afternoon finals gunned down Hurts Bell, 56-42, which was led by UConn-bound Lexi Gordon.
“I’m excited,” Farney said as the Lady Eagles improved their record to 8-5 with four victories in five starts in a tournament named in honor of former GISD Supt. Jack Frost. “The morning game wasn’t pretty, but it was important that we won in those circumstances against a very good team.”
Incarnate Word, a TAPPS power, finished the first day of the Jack Frost event with a 13-0 season record, but lost their final pool game to eventual Gold Bracket runner-up Liberty Hill on Friday. The Panthers from a few miles west on Highway 29 lost to defending 4A state champion and No. 1-ranked Argyle, 34-26, in the Gold finals on Saturday night.
“I wanted to have a chance to play Bell in our final game,” Farney said. “I always want to put us against the best players in the tournament.”
That was accomplished as Georgetown not only faced Gordon, who scored 28 points against the Lady Eagles, but were faced with Stanford-bound Kiana Williams, who scored 35 points in GHS’ 62-56 loss to second-ranked San Antonio Wagner in pool play. In one of the event’s biggest disappointments Williams was unable to play in the Thunderbirds semifinal loss to Liberty Hill because of an injury.
Two Lady Eagle seniors—point guard Brooke Elliott and post Dee Day—were named to the 17-player All-Tournament Team. Argyle senior forward Vivian Gray, arguably the state’s most-complete high-school player, was named the tournament’s MVP.
In the morning game with IWA, GHS led 11-9 after the first quarter, trailed 20-19 at the half and held a 28-27 edge after three quarters. The Lady Eagles led by six points with 1:33 remaining in regulation, put were unable to put that game away in the normal 32 minutes as Shamrocks’ standout junior Sophia Ramos scored five points down the stretch and Georgetown missed four of six free-throw attempts and two potential game-winning shots in the final 1:07. IWA’s Mikayla Mabry put the game in overtime, tied at 43, with a basket with 14 seconds left to play.
With the overtime tied at 48-48 in the closing seconds, senior Taylor Elliott scored a basket to give the Lady Eagles the victory and advance them to the Silver title game. Neither team led by more than two points in the extra period.
In addition to contending with the Shamrocks, GHS had a poor shooting game, making only 14 of 30 free throws and 17 of 40 from the floor. The 6-foot-1 Day led the Lady Eagles with 20 points and 13 rebounds, while Elliott had 10 points. Ramos scored 17 points and had seven rebounds for an IWA team that shot just 35 percent from the floor.
“I was pleased with the defense,” Farney said. “Taylor Elliott and (Maddie) Vickers did a good job on Ramos, who is a premier guard. We wanted to get to play one more game (in the tournament).”
In the Silver finals, Georgetown expanded a five-point margin at 30-25 to 12 at 37-25 with 10 seconds remaining in the third quarter as the Lady Eagles went inside with Day scoring four points and Emily Jones with three. GHS then outscored Bell, 8-3, at the start of the fourth quarter to take a 15-point edge and never let the margin fall under 10.
Freshman Emery Herman had her first signature game with 17 points, making all six of her shots from the floor and five of six free throws. She also had six rebounds and five assists. GHS was supported by Brooke Elliott with 10 points and eight rebounds, and Jones, who had 10 points and six boards.
As a team, GHS shot 20 of 39, but still struggled some at the line with 14 hits in 26 tries. They had a 35-11 edge on the boards.
“I was pleased with the way Dee played on Gordon. She’s somebody we’ll see play on TV on Saturdays,” Farney said. “I felt our team grew up a little today. They played together as a team and handled the challenges. In the overtime game, they played their hearts out.”
The Lady Eagles (1-0 in 19-5A) will return to district action when they play Hutto at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Hutto, The Lady Hippos are 1-1 in district.
38TH ANNUAL JACK FROST TOURNAMENT
GIRLS DIVISION
Gold Bracket
Semifinals—Liberty Hill 45, San Antonio Wagner 35; Argyle 64, Tyler John Tyler 46. Finals—Argyle 34, Liberty Hill 26.
Silver Bracket
Semifinals—Georgetown 50, San Antonio Incarnate Word 48 (OT); Hurst Bell 64, Houston Westbury Christian 55. Finals—Georgetown 56, Bell 42.
Bronze Bracket
Semifinals—Vandegrift 54, Lubbock Coronado 32; Fort Worth Trimble Tech 52, East View 42. Finals—Vandegrift 57, Trimble Tech 56.
Friendship Games
Cibolo Steele 48. Leander 32; Belton 33, Austin Bowie 32.
Tournament MVP Argyle—#12 Vivian Gray Senior Forward
Argyle –#33 Gabby Sandifer Junior Post
Georgetown—#10 Brooke Elliott Senior Guard
Georgetown—#50 Dee Day Senior Post
Georgetown East View—#21 Emily Daniel Senior Guard
John Tyler—#4 Alyssa Mayfield Senior Post
John Tyler—#5 Destani Whitehead Junior Guard
Liberty Hill—#25 Sedona Prince Junior Post
Liberty Hill—#32 Kandyn Fauric Junior Forward
LD Bell—#15 Myra Gordon Freshman Guard
LD Bell—#34 Lexi Gordon Senior Guard
SA Incarnate Word—#5 Sophia Ramos Junior Guard
SA Wagner—#3 Angel Hastings Junior Guard
SA Wagner—#23 Kiana Williams Senior Guard
Trimble Tech—#32Anna McDowell Sophomore Forward
Vandegrift—#4Madison Byrne Senior Guard
Westbury Christian—#30 Emery Nichols
Silver Semifinals
GEORGETOWN 50, INCARNATE WORD 48 (OT)
IWA (48) — Olivia Balderas 3-5 0-0 9, Sophia Ramos 4-11 8-10 17, Ashley Adaszcyk 1-3 0-0 2, Alexis Retault 1-3 2-2 4, Isa Contreras 2-8 2-2 6, Brooke Orme 1-5 0-0 2, Kendall Villarreal 1-2 0-0 3, Emily Peebles 1-2 0-0 3, Mikayla Mabry 1-3 0-0 2. Totals: 15-42 12-14 48.
GHS (50) — Brooke Elliott 3-9 2-6 10, Josie Weirich 0-0 0-0 0, Taylor Elliott 2-4 1-2 5, Knight 1-4 2-2 4, Maddie Vickers0-3 2-2 2, Emery Herman 3-5 3-5 9, Jade Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Dee Day 8-14 4-10 20, Emily Jones 0-1 0-2 0.
Totals: 17-40 14-23 50.
Halftime: IWA, 20-19. Regulation: 43-43. 3-point shooting: IWA 6-17 (Balderas 3-5, Ramos 1-1, Adaszcyk 0-2, Retault 0-1, Contreras 0-2, Orme 0-4, Villarreal 1-1, Peebles 1-1); GHS 2-11 (N. Elliott 2-5, T. Elliott 0-2, Vickers 0-3, Herman 0-1). Rebounds: IWA 21 (Ramos 7, Mabry 5); GHS 34 (Day 13, Herman 6, B. Elliott 5). Assists: GHS 9 (T. Elliott 3, Herman 3). Steals: GHS 6 (Day 3, T. Elliott 2), Blocks: GHS 0. Turnovers: GHS 3. Total fouls: IWA 24, GHS 12. Fouled out: LWA, Adaszczyk (fourth :27); Mabry (OT, 2:03). Records: IWA, 13-2; GHS, 7-5.
Silver Finals
GEORGETOWN 56, BELL 42
BELL (42)—Lauren Cuevas 0-0 0-0 0, Tiana Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Isabella Burns 0-0 0-0 0, Kyla Davis 0-2 2-2 2, Myra Gordon 1-7 5-9 8, Lowdes Baez 0-0 0-0 0, Lexi Gordon 8-16 12-13 28, Aretha Nash 0-0 0-0 0, Macie Lynch 1-3 0-0 2. Totals: 11-30 19-24 42.
GHS (56)—B. Elliott 3-8 3-4 10, Weirich 0-1 1-4 1, T. Elliott 1-5 2-2 5, Knight 1-2 1-4 3, Vickers 0-0 0-2 0, Herman 6-6 5-6 17, Smith 1-1 0-0 2, Day 4-7 0-0 8, Jones 4-9 2-4 10. Totals: 20-39 14-26 56.
Halftime: GHS, 23-18. 3-point scoring: HB 1-9 (Davis 0-32, M. Gordon 1-3, L. Gordon 0-4); GHS 2-8 (B. Elliott 1-4, Weirich 0-1, T. Elliott 1-3). Rebounds: HB 11 (L. Gordon 7); GHS 35 (B. Elliott 8, Herman 6, Jones 6, Herman 5, Knight 4). Assists: GHS 15 (Herman 5, B. Elliott 4, T. Elliott 3). Steals: GHS 4 (Day 3). Blocks: GHS 1 (Davis 1). Turnovers: GHS 2. Total fouls: HB 18, GHS 23. Fouled out: none. Records: Bell, 8-6; GHS, 8-5.
Statistics source: Lady Eagle Basketball.