By GALEN WELLNICKI
After dispatching Bastrop Cedar Creek, 53-21, on Tuesday night to complete the regular season, Georgetown’s 19th-ranked Lady Eagles have turned their attention to the 128-team Class 5A state playoffs.
Coach Rhonda Farney’s Lady Eagles, who completed the regular season with a 24-7 record that included a 15-1 championship run in 19-5A, will play Waller, the fourth-place team from 20-5A, in bi-district at 7 p.m. Monday in Hearne, a familiar playoff destination for Georgetown.
If GHS survives its opening battle with a Waller team Farney says “is playing the best ball in 20-5A right now,” it will play either Bryan Rudder, the runner-up in 18-5A, or Nacogdoches, the third-place team from 17-5A, in the area round later in the week. The Rangers and Dragons are scheduled to settle their bi-district issue at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in Slocum, a small school in an unicorporated site in Anderson County (a 170-mile journey from Georgetown).
Winning seven of its last eight district starts, the Waller Bulldogs finished 9-5 in 20-5A, just a game behind Tomball and Magnolia at 10-4. Tomball Memorial, which will play eighter East View or Bastrop in bi-district, won the title at 13-1. The Bulldogs’ signature win in district was a 44-41 victory over then highly ranked Memorial in Waller.
In addition to closing out its regular season on Tuesday night at Eagle Gym, Georgetown celebrated the careers of its four seniors — twin guards Brooke and Taylor Elliott, post Dee Day and player-turned-manager Katy Brandenburg — in a postgame ceremony that included gifts from their parents, smiles, tears and sharing of fond memories.
“It was good to finish the regular season with a victory and then give our four seniors the recognition that they richly deserve,” Farney said. “Now, we start our final preparations for the start of the playoffs.”
One of those preparations, if possible, will be be to get healthy with at least three players off their usual games and playing time against Cedar Creek, which finished in a three-way tie for sixth in the 19-5A standings at 4-12 with Hutto and Pflugerville Connally.
After a slow start by the Lady Eagles in which they fell behind 6-0 and did not score until the 2:27 remained in the first quarter on a basket by 6-foot-1 freshman Emery Herman, GHS outscored their namesakes 53-15 over the final 26 minutes of the game. They held Cedar Creek to five points in the second quarter and four each in the third and fourth periods.
It marked the 13th times the Lady Eagles held an opponent under 30 points, including 10 times in 19-5A action, and the 14th time on the season that an opponent’s leading scorer was limited to 10 or fewer points. Jaelyn Goodloe and Ashlan Smith had seven points each for the visiting Eagles.
Cedar Creek made just eight of its 24 shots from the field, including zero of six from beyond the arc, and had the ball stolen 13 times by a defense headed by B. Elliott with four .
Sophomore post Jaelyn Knight scored nine of her game-high 11 points in the second half for GHS, while Herman scored 10 points, all in the first half. Sophomore guard Ali Isbell, sophomore post Emily Jones and junior guard Josie Weirich added eight, seven and six points, respectively. The Eagles made 38 percent of their field goal attempts and 14 of 18 from the line.
Georgetown dominated the boards, 36-21, with Day and Knight grabbing 12 and 10, respectively. B. Elliott fed the offense with seven assists.
Despite beating Cedar Park, 57-28, this past Friday, the Lady Eagles dropped from 11th to 19th in the Texas Basketball Association 5A rankings because of their 56-44 loss to Rouse earlier in the week. Mont Belvieu Barbers Hill, which is on the opposite end of the regional bracket from GHS, is the top-ranked team in III-5A at fourth in the state.
On the sub-varsity level, the Georgetown Freshman Blue outscored the Cedar Creek Freshman, 65-15, to deadlock Cedar Park for the 19-5A championsip with a 15-1 mark in district and 22-2 for the season. Kylee Sander led GHS with 14 points and Maya Perry and Keiana San Miguel added 12 and 10, respectively.
Since Cedar Creek does not field a separate JV team, the Lady Eagles had claimed that title this past Friday with a perfect 14-0 mark.
The only undetermined spot on the 32-team Region III-5A playoff backet is fourth place in 19-5A. After ending the regular district campaign at 9-7 and having split the season series, East View and Bastrop will play off the deadlock at 7 p.m. Friday at Pflugerville.
The Lady Eagles Basketball website will post a complete Region III-5A playoff preview this weekend with the completed bracket and Georgetown’s playoff roster.
DISTRICT 19-5A GIRLS BASKETBALL
Final standings — xy-Georgetown, 15-1; x-Cedar Park, 13-3; x- Rouse, 13-3; Bastrop, 9-7; East View, 9-7; Hutto, 4-12; Pflugerville Connally, 4-12; Bastrop Cedar Creek, 4-12; Elgin, 1-15.
Tuesday’s results — Georgetown 53, Cedar Creek 21; East View 66, Elgin 47; Cedar Park 75, Connally 45; Rouse at Hutto, 7 p.m. Bye — Bastrop.
(End of regular season)
District Playoffs
Second seed — Cedar Park. Third seed — Rouse. Fourth seed — East View vs. Bastrop, 7 p.m. Friday, Pflugerville High School.
Bi-District Games
Monday — Georgetown vs. Waller, 7 p.m., Hearne; Cedar Park vs. Magnolia, 6:30 p.m., Schulenburg.
Tuesday — Rouse vs. Tomball, 5:30 p.m., Hearne.
Pending — Tomball Memorial vs. East View or Bastrop.
X–clinched playoff berth. y — clinched district championship.
OTHER KEY REGION III-5A DISTRICTS
(Districts 19-5A could face in early rounds of the playoffs)
17-5A (Final Standings) — xy-Ennis, 9-1; xy- Lindale, 9-1; x-Nacogdoches, 5-5; x-Corsicana, 4-6; Jacksonville, 3-7; Whitehouse, 0-10. Tuesday’s results: Ennis 59, Jacksonville 30; Lindale 65, Nacogdoches 39; Corsicana 47, Whitehouse 35. Playoff update — Ennis will be seeded No. 1 and Lindale No. 2 in playoffs.
18-5A (Final standings) — xy-College Station, 11-1; x-Bryan Rudder, 9-3; x-Temple, 8-4; x- x-Bryan, 7-5; Waco, 3-9; A&M Consolidate, 3-9; Waco University, 1-11. Tuesday’s results — A&M Consolidated 80, Rudder 78; Bryan 57, Temple 56; Waco 41, University 37. Playoff update — All playoff positions secured.
20-5A (Final standings) — xy-Tomball Memorial, 13-1; x-Tomball, 10-4; x-Magnolia, 10-4; x-Waller, 9-5; Brenham, 5-9; Huntsville, 4-10; Magnolia West, 4-10; Willis, 1-13. Tuesday’s results — Memorial 38, Tomball 34; Waller 64, Willis 62;, Magnolia 52, Brenham 38; Magnolia West 59, Huntsville 55. Playoff update — Tomball is No. 2 seed; Magnolia is No. 3.
x–clinched playoff berth. y — clinched district championship.
TUESDAY’S DISTRICT 19-5A GAMES
At Eagle Gym
Varsity
GEORGETOWN 53, BASTROP CEDAR CREEK 21
CEDAR CREEK (21) — Jayla Kinney 0 0-1 0, Catalina Valladares 0-1 0-0 0, Karla Mardiaga 0-1 0-0 0, Serena Adams 0-2 1-3 1, Jasmyne Hubbard 1-8 2-4 4, Marisa Bandera 0 0-0 0, Jaelyn Goodloe 3-6 1-1 7, Kiera Marlow 0 0-0 0, Ashlan Smith 3-4 1-4 7, Deshelle Welcome 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 8-24 5-13 21.
GHS (53) — Brooke Elliott 1-10 2-4 4, Ali Isbell 3-4 1-1 8, Josie Weirich 2-6 0-0 6, Taylor Elliott 1-1 0-0 2, Emili Harris 0-1 0-0 0, Jaelyn Knight 4-7 3-3 11, Maddie Vickers 0-2 0-0 0, Emery Herman 4-5 2-2 10, Jade Smith 0-1 2-2 2, Dee Day 1-7 1-2 3, Emily Jones 2-4 3-4 7. Totals: 18-48 14-18 53.
Halftime: GHS, 21-13. 3-point shooting: CC 0-6 (Valladares 0-1, Mardiaga 0-1, Adams 0-1, Hubbard 0-3), GHS 3-15 (B. Elliott 0-5, Isbell 1-2, Weirich 2-5, Vickers 0-2, Herman 0-1). Rebounds: CC 21 (Goodloe 8, Smith 8), GHS 36 (Day 12, Knight 10, B. Elliott 5). Assists: 19 (B. Elliott 7. Jones 3). Steals: GHS 13 (B. Elliott 4, Day 3). Blocks: GHS 1 (Day). Turnovers: GHS 10. Total fouls: CC 15, GHS 11. Fouled out: CC, Smith (6:44, fourth). Technical fouls: none. Records: Cedar Creek 4-12 in 19-5A, 10-21; Georgetown, 15-1 in 19-5A, 24-7.
Sub-Varsity
(GHS scoring only)
GEORGETOWN FRESHMAN BLUE 65, CEDAR CREEK FRESHMEN 15 — Hailey Hanson 0, Hailey Smith 6, Maya Perry 12, Kylie Ellsworth 0, Kylee Sander 14, Mercedes Robledo 2, Keiana San Miguel 10, McCall Hampton 8, MacKenzy Mouton 8, Caroline Horton 0, Tatiana Williams 0, A’Brielle Abrams 0, Celeste Valdez 0, Marney Hazell 0. Sue Ellen Albrecht 0, Rachel Heine 3, Keyla Perez 2, Madison Rincon 0. Halftime: GHS, 39-2. GHS record, 15-1 in 19-5A (co-champions); 22-2.
TEXAS ASSOCIATION OF BASKETBALL COACHES 5A RANKINGS
(Released Monday)
1. Amarillo (32-1). 2, Mansfield Timberview (30-2). 3. Canyon (23-3). 4. Mont Belvieu Barbers Hill (28-4). 5. Saginaw Boswell (32-3). 6. Frisco Liberty (26-6). 7. Frisco Lone Star (22-6). 8. The Colony (32-1). 9. Tomball Memorial (25-5). 10. Austin SFA (28-5). 11. Colleyville Heritage (25-6). 12. Mansfield Summit (25-8). 13. College Station (26-6). 14. Kerrville Tivy (30-4). 15. Sulphur Springs (25-3). 16. Dayton (26-3). 17. Houston Madison (22-6). 18. Crowley (23-5). 19. Georgetown (23-7). 20. Fort Worth Trimble Tech (26-7), 21. El Paso Andress (26-4). 22. Brownsville Veterans Memorial (27-6). 23. Laredo Cigarroa (28-7). 24. Lubbock Monterey (24-5). 25. Marble Falls (23-9).
By region (in order):
Region 1 — Amarillo, Canyon, Boswell, Heritage,Trimble Tech, Andress, Monterey.
Region 2 — Timberview, Liberty, Lone Star, The Colony, Summit, Sulphur Springs, Crowley.
Region 3 — Barbers Hill, Tomball Memorial, College Station, Dayton, Madison, Georgetown.
Region 4 — SFA, Tivy, Veterans Memorial, Cigarroa, Marble Falls.
TEXAS GIRLS COACHES ASSOCIATION 5A RANKINGS
(Released Tuesday)
1. Amarillo. 2. Mansfield Timberview. 3. Mont Belvieu Barbers Hill. 4. Canyon. 5. Frisco Liberty. 6. The Colony. 7. Saginaw Boswell. 8. El Paso Andress. 9. Frisco Lone Star. 10. Sulphur Springs. 11. Austin SFA. 12. Georgetown. 13. Dayton. 14. El Paso Riverside. 15. Denton Ryan. 16. Tomball Memorial. 17. Laredo Cigarroa. 18. Lubbock Monterey. 19. Plainview. 20. Colleyville Heritage. 21. Red Oak. 22. Mansfield Summit. 23. Brownsville Veterans Memorial. 24. El Paso Burges. 25. Corpus Christi Carroll.
Honorable mention: Cedar Park, Highland Park, Kerrville Tivy, Mansfield Legacy, Marble Falls, Fort Worth Trimble Tech, Houston Madison, Wylie East, Ennis, San Antonio Lanier, Crowley, San Antonio Harlandale, Prosper, College Station, Rouse.