By GALEN WELLNICKI
It’s no secret if a person has followed the 22nd-ranked Georgetown Lady Eagles this season. They are not the most-consistent free-throw shooting team. Going into Tuesday afternoon’s District 19-5A road encounter with Rouse, GHS was shooting only 60.3 percent (258 of 428) from the line. In five games of their first 17 games they made 50 percent or less.
Against Rouse. the Lady Eagles only made five of their first 15 free throws, but rallied down the stretch, making 11 of their final 13 efforts en route to a 55-38 victory over the upset-minded Rouse Raiders, who seemed to lose their shooting touch in the closing minutes. Rouse made just two field goals and four free throws as GHS expanded a six-point lead with 1:37 to go in the third period to the final 17-point margin.
The victory kept the Lady Eagles, 13-5 on the season, alone atop the 19-5A standings with a 6-0 mark — one-game ahead of Cedar Park (5-1). The loss dropped Rouse (4-2) into fourth place, a half-game behind Bastrop (5-2), which is yet to get it’s first-round bye.
The Timberwoves, 15-5 going into the manditory UIL holiday break and its post-Christmas appearance in the M.T. Rice Tournament in Waco, will face the Lady Eagles at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 3, in the next-to-last game of first-round action in District 19-5A. GHS will close the opening round on Friday, Jan. 6, at Bastrop Cedar Creek.
Before returning to 19-5A competition Georgetown will play in the showcase-format Carolina Invitational in Charleston on Dec. 27-29. And if could be a tough test for the Lady Eagles as their three-scheduled opponents have a combined 24-2 record through this past Tuesday’s games, according to reported results on the internet.
The Lady Eagles will open with St. John’s Catholic Prep of Buckeystown, Md., at 4 p.m. CST on Tuesday, Dec. 27. The Vikings were 5-0 prior to going into their final pre-Christmas game on Wednesday against the Maryland State School for the Deaf.
On Wednesday, Dec. 28, GHS will face Holy Innocents Episcopal from Atlanta at 4:30 p.m. CST. The Golden Bears were 9-1.
The Northwood Academy Chargers of Summerville, S.C., will challene GHS at 4:30 p.m. CST on Thursday. Northwood, also a church-affiliated school, is a two-time state champion, including 2015, and stands 10-1. The Chargers currently are competing in the Savannah River Shootout.
GHS, St. John’s, Holy Innocents and Northwood are competing in the same round-robin pod.
Because of late changes in the tournament field over several brackets, there is a chance that the Lady Eagles could pick up a fourth game.
“I’m so proud of the girls,” GHS head coach Rhonda Farney said of the Rouse victory. “It was a grinder this afternoon — not very pretty. Once we started making our free throws it became contageous and everybody started hitting.
“Dee Day (with game-highs of 19 points and 12 rebounds) was dominant at both ends and (senior point guard) Brooke (Elliott) plyed well in the second half. (Freshman) Emery (Herman) came on (15 points and five steals) and I’m proud of the way (sophomores) E.J. (Jones) and Jaelyn (Knight) played in a very physical game.”
Georgetown led just 21-18 at the half and the game remained close through most of the third period. Back-to-baskets by the 6-1 Day and a free throw by Elliott enabled the Lady Eagles to lead 41-32 after three quarters. Another pair of back-to-back baskets by Day advanced the lead to 13 points with 4:15 to go and it never dropped below that margin.
Rouse, which put no players in double figures, used the 3-point shot as a weapon early, but ended up making just five of 21 from beyond the arc as they shot 33 percent (12 of 36) for the game.
Day, who made nine of 14 from the floor, and Herman were the only players in double digits for the Lady Eagles.
The Georgetown JV and Freshman Blue both improved their 19-5A records to 6-0 with wins in Tuesday’s sub-varsity action. Behind a 14-point performance by Samari O’Brien, which included four 3-pointers, and double-digit efforts by Jade Smith (12 points) ad Shelby Jones (10) the JV took a 58-26 victory. The Blue prevailed 54-38 with MacKenzy Mouton scoring 14 and McCall Hampton adding 11.
In non-district action Monday, Kayla Perez scored 16 as the Freshmen White claimed a 26-21 victory over the Jarrell freshmen.
DISTRICT 19-5A GIRLS BASKETBALL
Standings — Georgetown, 6-0; Cedar Park, 5-1; Bastrop, 5-2; Rouse, 4-2; Pflugerville Connally, 2-4; East View, 2-4; Hutto. 2-4; Elgin, 1-5; Bastrop Cedar Creek, 1-6.
Tuesday’s results — Georgetown 55, Rouse 38; Cedar Park 66, Cedar Creek 30; Bastrop 35, Hutto 29; East View 45, Connally 38. Bye — Elgin.
Holiday Break until Tuesday, Jan. 3.
Tuesday, Jan. 3, games — Cedar Park at Georgetown, 7 p.m.; East View at Hutto, 7 p.m.; Bastrop at Elgin, 7 p.m.; Rouse at Connally, 7 p.m. Bye — Cedar Creek.
TUESDAY’S DISTRICT 19-5A GAMES
At Rouse
Varsity
GEORGETOWN 55, ROUSE 38
GHS (55) — Brooke Elliott 1-7 5-8 8, Josie Weirich 0-2 0-0 0, Taylor Elliott 2-3 1-4 5, Jaelyn Knight 1-2 0-2 2, Maddie Vickers 0-0 2-3 2, Emery Herman 4-10 7-9 15, Dee Day 9-14 1-1 19, Emily Jones 2-3 0-1 4. Totals: 19-41 16-28 55.
ROUSE (38) — Brittney Martin 0-4 3-4 0, Hannah Hendricks 0-0 0-0 0, Taylor Douthitt 3-7 0-0 8, Daszia Sullivan 1-2 0-0 3, Chloe Austin 1-9 1-5 3, Emily Schaible 1-2 0-2 3, Jennifer Parker 2-4 3-5 7, Zoe Holmes 2-5 1-4 5, Lauren Burnett 2-34 0-0 6, Ashley Thompson 0-0 1-3 1. Totals: 12-36 9-23 38.
Halftime: GHS, 21-18. 3-point shooting: GHS 1-7 (B. Elliott 1-4, Weirich 0-2, T. Elliott 0-1); RHS 5-21 (Martin 0-4, Douthitt 2-6, Austin 0-6, Schaible 1-2, Burnett 2-3). Rebounds: GHS 31 (Day 12, Herman 6, Knight 4, Jones 4, B. Elliott 3); RHS 26 (Thompson 7, Austin 6). Assists: GHS 11 (B. Elliott 5, Herman 3). Steals: GHS 13 (Herman 4, T. Elliott 3, Knight 3). Blocks: GHS 2 (Day 2); RHS 1. Turnovers: GHS 12, RHS 19. Total fouls: GHS 20, RHS 19. Fouled out: GHS, Jones. Technical foul: RHS, Holmes. Records: Georgetown, 6-0 in 19-5A, 13-5; Rouse, 4-2, 10-8.
Sub-Varsity
(GHS scoring only)
GHS JV 58, ROUSE JV 26 — Gracie Speer 4, Morgan Bruning 0, Ali Isbell 5, Samari O’Brien 14, Hailey Wickline 4, Shelby Jones 10, Miranda Gil 3, Emili Harris 6, Jade Smith 12. Halftime: GHS, 32-17. GHS record: 6-0 in 19-5A, 10-3.
GHS FRESHMAN BLUE 54, ROUSE FRESHMAN 38 — Hailey Hanson 0, Maya Perry 6, Kylie Ellsworth 6, Kylee Sander 3, Mercedes Robledo 7, Keiana San Miguel 4, McCall Hampton 11, MacKenzy Mouton 14. Halftime: GHS, 25-14. GHS record: 6-0 in 19-5A, 12-1.
MONDAY’S NON-DISTRICT GAME
At Georgetown
Sub-Varsity
(GHS scoring only)
GHS FRESHMAN WHITE 26, JARRELL FRESHMAN 21 — Caroline Horton 3, Tatiana Williams 0, Na’Keia Cook 2, A’Brielle Abrams 3, Celeste Valdez 0, Marney Hazell 0, Sueellen Albrecht 0, Rachel Heine 2, Keyla Perez 16, Madison Rincon 0. Halftime: GHS, 19-13. GHS record: 10-5.
TABC CLASS 5A POLL
(Released Monday)
1. Mansfield Timberview. 2. Canyon. 3. Dayton. 4. Amarillo. 5. Mont Belvieu Barbers Hill. 6. El Paso Burges. 7. Tomball Memorial. 8, Mansfield Summit. 9. Saginaw Boswell. 10. The Colony. 11. Frisco Lone Star. 12. Frisco Liberty. 13. Austin SFA. 14. Plainview. 15. College Station. 16. Dripping Springs. 17. Kerrville Tivy. 18. Mansfield Legacy. 19. Colleyville Heritage. 20. Red Oak. 21. Houston Madison. 22. Georgetown. 23. Colleyville Heritage. 24. Brownsville Veterans Memorial. 25. Laredo Cigarroa.
Note: TABC has Colleyville Heritrage listed at both 19th and 23rd in this week’s poll.