By GALEN WELLNICKI
The reality check came at an opportune time for the Georgetown Lady Eagles.
After beating their first four District 19-5A games by a total of 220 points –a mere 55 points a start—arch-rival East View gave the Lady Eagles a true gut check this past Friday at Eagle gym before falling, 47-42, in the closing minutes.
True, Georgetown ran its record to 5-0 and remained the only unbeaten team in
19-5A, but was introduced to the fact that the Lady Eagles are talented, but human and only a slight slipping of their competitive fire from a costly divot in their won-lost column and attainment of their season goals. A fact that coach Rhonda Farney probably firmly reinforced after the game.
“Opportune” is a key term with the Lady Eagles facing its prime district challengers in their next two starts. They face 4-1 Rouse at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday on the Raiders’ hardwoods and then play Cedar Park at Eagle Gym when they return to 19-5A action at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 3. The Lady Timberwolves were 4-1 going into their Tuesday battle with Bastrop Cedar Creek.
Rouse currently owns an edge over Cedar Park, having beaten the Timbers,
43-42. The Raiders lone district loss so far was to Bastrop, 38-34, on the second night of 19-5A action.
“We were lucky we won,” Farney said. “I thought East View played exceptional. #12 (Diamond Morrison) and # 21 (Emily Daniel) shot the ball well and East View played smart. Coaches (Dave) Walla and (Chris) Corley made effective adjustments at halftime.”
The shooting of Daniel, who finished with 22 points, and Morrison, who scored, 15, were key factors in an East View comeback that allowed the Patriots to rebound from a 30-15 deficit with 5:41 remaining in the third period. The duo produced 21 of East View’s 22 points—13 by Daniel and 8 by Morrison—to cut the GHS lead to 38-37 with 4:30 to go in the contest.
GHS counted with four free throws—two by Dee Day and one each by Taylor and Brooke Elliott—to go up 42-37 with 2:46 left. East View came back with two free throws by Daniel with 1:46 remaining to slice the lead by three, but never got closer.
After Daniel drained her 3-pointer to cut the Lady Eagles’ lead to one, East View lost its shooting touch, going 4:27 without a field goal. Daniel concluded the night’s scoring with a trey with three seconds remaining, closing the final gap from eight points to the final five-point margin.
Both teams had major shooting problems. hitting 50 percent from the floor (15 of 30), GHS made only 16 of 32 free throws—a continuing problem—and managed only six points in the third quarter. Despite its ability to seemingly score freely in its comeback from 14 down in the second half, East View missed 36 of its 51 shots from the floor with Morrison and Daniel combining for 22 of the misses. With 18 turnovers, GHS lost the ball three more times than the Patriots.
Seniors Day with 20 points and B. Elliott with 10 led the Georgetown offense.
B. Elliott and Day cleaned the boards with eight and seven, respectively.
Neither team was enamored with the officiating. by the Austin-based crew.
Georgetown won all three sub-varsity games with the JV and the Freshman Blue running their 19-5A marks to 5-0. The JV prevailed 49-21 with four players scoring eight points each—Gracie Speer, Ali Isbell, Shelby Jones and Emili Harris.
The Freshman Blue won, 45-21, behind 13 points from Keiana San Miguel and the Freshman White prevailed 29-14 with Keyla Perez scoring 11.
DISTRICT 19-5A GIRLS BASKETBALL
Standings—Georgetown, 5-0; Cedar Park, 4-1; Rouse, 4-1; Bastrop. 4-2; Pflugerville Connally, 2-3; East View, 1-4; Hutto. 2-3; Bastrop Cedar Creek, 1-5; Elgin, 1-5.
Friday’s results — Georgetown 47, East View 42; Hutto 69, Elgin at Hutto 58; Rouse 70, Cedar Creek 32; Bastrop 57, Connally 49. Bye—Cedar Park.
Tuesday’s games — Georgetown at Rouse, 1:30 p.m.; Cedar Creek at Cedar Park, 2:30 p.m.; Hutto at Bastrop, 1:30 p.m.; Connally at East View, 7 p.m. Bye—Elgin.
Holiday Break until Tuesday, Jan. 3.
FRIDAY’S DISTRICT 19-5A GAMES
At Eagle Gym
GEORGETOWN 47, EAST VIEW 42
EAST VIEW (42)—Paighton Corley 1-7 1-3 3, Diamond Morrison 6-16 0-0 15, Jessica Workman 0-2 0-0 0, Alyson Ashby 0-1 0-0 0. Cassidy Salyer 0-0 0-0 0, Emily Daniel 7-19 5-6 22, Ana Steger 0-0 0-0 0, Alex Stone 1-2 0-0 2, Rocky Saldana 0-1 0-0 0, Lily Brown 0-1 0-0 0, Keely Wallis 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 15-51 6-9 42.
GHS (47)—Brooke Elliott 3-5 3-6 10, Josie Weirich 0-0 1-2 1, Taylor Elliott 1-3 2-5 4, Jaelyn Knight 1-3 0-0 2. Maddie Vickers 0-1 0-0 0, Emery Herman 2-5 2-3 6, Day 7-10 6-10 20, Emily Jones 1-3 2-6 4. Totals: 15-30 16-32 47.
Halftime: GHS, 27-15. 3-point shooting: EV 6-19 (Ashby 0-1, Corley 0-1, Morrison 3-8, Daniel 3-8, Saldana 0-1); GHS 1-3 (B. Elliott 1-1, Vickers 0-1, Herman 0-1). Rebounds: EV 27 (Daniel 10); GHS 26 (B. Elliott 8, Day 7). Assists: EV 5 (Morrison 2); GHS 14 (T. Elliott 4, Herman 3, Vickers 2, B. Elliott 2, Day 2). Steals: EV 8 (Workman 3, Morrison 2, Daniel 2); GHS 12 (T. Elliott 3, Herman 3). Blocks: EV 1 (Wallis); GHS 2 (Herman, Day). Turnovers: EV 15; GHS 18. Total fouls: EV 25, GHS 12. Fouled out: EV, Wallis (5:47, third); Corley (:34, fourth). Technical fouls: none. Records: East View, 1-4 in 19-5A, 7-10; Georgetown, 5-0 in 19-5A, 12-5.
Sub-Varsity
(GHS scoring only)
GHS JV 49, EAST VIEW JV 21—Gracie Speer 8, Morgan Bruning 7, Ali Isbell 8, Samari O’Brien 5, Hailey Wickline 0, Shelby Jones 8, Miranda Gil 2, Emili Harris 8, Jade Smith 3. Halftime: GHS, 23-14. GHS record: 5-0 in 19-5A, 9-3.
GHS FRESHMAN BLUE 45, EAST VIEW FRESHMAN A 21—Hailey Hanson 0, Hailey Smith 1, Maya Perry 6, Kylie Ellsworth 6, Kylee Sander 2, Mercedes Robledo 9, Keiana San Miguel 13, McCall Hampton 3, MacKenzy Mouton 5. Halftime: 22-13. GHS record: 5-0 in 19-5A, 11-1.
GHS FRESHMAN WHITE 29, EAST VIEW FRESHMAN B 14—Caroline Horton 5, Tatiana Williams 0, Na’Keia Cook 2, A’Brielle Abrams 9, Celeste Valdez 0, Marney Hazell 0, SueEllen Albrecht 0, Rachel Heine 2, Keyla Perez 11, Madison Rincon 0. Halftime: GHS 16-4. GHS record: 1-0 in 19-5A.