Using defense as its prime weapon, Georgetown’s Lady Eagles bested San Marcos, 42-20, to win an abbreviated version of Pool A Friday night in Eagle Gym to reach Saturday’s Gold Bracket semifinals of the 39th annual Jack Frost Invitational Tournament.
The Lady Eagles, now 8-4 on the season and riding a modest three-game winning streak, will face Pool B winner Forth Worth Trimble Teach in the semifinals at 12:30 p.m. in Eagle Gym. The winner of that contest will play either Pool C winner Liberty Hill or Pool D victor Cibolo Steele in the finals at 5 p.m. Liberty Hill and Steele will play their semifinal in Georgetown’s lower gym at the same time as GHS plays Trimble Tech.
Trimble Tech, Liberty Hill and Steele all won their pools with 3-0 marks, while the Lady Eagles were 2-0 in a preliminary round shortened by the virtual last-minute withdrawl of Houston Westbury Christian from the event. In its first pool contest, GHS bested Leander, 34-30.
The Trimble Tech Bulldogs advanced to the semifinals on the strength of a 45-40 win over defending tournament and 4A state champion Argyle, a 71-60 win over San Antonio Incarnate Word and a 46-44 escape from Austin Bowie, a team that lost its first two pool games by a combined total of 29 points.
Saturday’s bracket play in four diviisions is single-elimination.
To say the offensive start of Friday’s victory over the Lady Rattlers was slow might be an understatement. The Lady Eagles led 14-2 at the half. San Marcos didn’t score its first basket until six minutes and two seconds remained in the third quarter — that’s 17 minutes and 58 seconds without a bucket. The Lady Rattlers only two points up to that point were on a pair of free throws with 3:05 left in the opening period.
Of course, GHS didn’t ripple the nets at a high rate either in the first half. The Lady Eagles led 6-2 after the opening quarter on 3-pointers by sophomore Kylie Ellsworth and senior Maddie Vickers. San Marcos was shut out in the second quarter, 8-0.
However, Georgetown picked up the pace in the third quarter, outscoring the Snakes, 12-9, with a final slurge in the final 1:24 of the period allowing them to open a 15-point advantage on a bucket by junior Jaelyn Knight and another 3-pointer by Vickers. The closing push included an 11-2 run in the final four minutes of the game to complete the 22-point victory.
“We’re pleased to have a chance to play Trimble Tech in the semifinals,” Farney said. “They are similar to Houston Weatley and that will give us a chance to see how much we’ve improved since last Friday (when GHS dropped a 57-37 decision to Wheatley in Houston).”
As for Friday’s win over a young San Marcos team, Farney said, “I’m proud of the girls. We played good defense and rebounded extremely well and were able to score points off our defensive effort (That included 15 steals and two blocks). Our offensive effort in the first half wasn’t as good as we wo9uld have liked. We’re in a process where we learn something new each time we take the court.”
It marked the sixth time in 12 games that GHS has held an opponent to 33 or fewer points.
With a few p;roblems finding the range in the first half, the Lady Eagles made 14 of their 37 shots (37 percent) including five of 12 beyond the arc. For the second time in three games Ellsworth led the scoring with 13 points and Vickers and Knight added in seven and six, respectively.
San Marcos made just seven of 32 attempts from the floor, including two of 12 treys. No Lady Rattler scored more than six points.
GHS took a 27-24 edge on the boards against their taller opponent with Knight grabbing six and sophomore McCall Hampton, sophomore Mackenzy Mouton and Ellsworth each having three. Junior post Jade Smith and Hampton each blocked a shot. Vickers had a team-high five steals. Junior guard Ali Isbell had a productive game with five points, two assists, two steals and three two rebounds.
39TH ANNUAL JACK FROST
INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT
At Georgetown, Friday, Dec. 1
FRIDAY’S POOL A BOXSCORE
GEORGETOWN 42, SAN MARCOS 20
SAN MARCOS (20) — Bethany Gutierrez 0-3 2-2 2, Katelyn Foster 0-2 0-1 0, Andrea Flores 0-0 0-0 0, Liana Rodriguez 0-0 0-0 0, Mikayla Gongora 2-7 0-0 6, Abigal Pena 1-8 2-2 4, Taylor Henderson 0-1 0-0 0, Faith Phillips 2-3 0-0 4, Miranda Lamb 0-4 0-0 0, Tania Brown 1-1 0-0 2, Grace Latham 1-3 0-0 2. Totals: 7-32 4-5 20.
GHS (42) — Ali Isbell 2-3 0-0 5, Josie Weirich 1-4 0-0 3, Samari O’Brien 1-1 0-0 2, Kylie Ellsworth 4-11 4-4 13, Mackenzy Mouton 0-2 0-0 0, Jaelyn Knight 3-7 0-0 6, Maddie Vickers 2-3 1-4 7, Jade Smith 0-1 3-5 3, McCall Hampton 1-5 1-2 3. Totals: 14-37 9-15 42.
Halftime: GHS, 14-2. 3-point shooting: SM 2-12 (Gutierrez 0-1, Foster 0-1, Gongora 2-5, Pena 0-5); GHS 5-12 (Isbell 1-2. Weirich 1-3, Ellsworth 1-5, Vickers 2-2). Rebounds: SM 24; GHS 27 (Knight 6, Mouton 3, Hampton 3, Ellsworth 3). Assists: GHS 10 (Isbell 2, Ellsworth 2, Knight 2, Vickers 2). Steals: SM 3; GHS 15 (Vickers 5, Hampton 3, Ellsworth 3). Blocks: SM 2 (Latham 2); GHS 2 (Smith, Hampton). Turnovers: SM 23. GHS 14. Total fouls: SM 15; GHS 10. Fouled out: none. Technical fouls: none. Records: San Marcos, 4-9; Georgetown, 8-4.
SECOND DAY POOL RESULTS
GIRLS
Round Three
Pool A
Georgetown 42, San Marcos 20
Leander, open
Pool B
Argyle 65, San Antonio Incarnate Word 43
Fort Worth Trimble Tech 46, Austin Bowie 44
Pool C
Liberty Hill 60, Belton 19
San Antonio Veterans Memorial 49, Lubbock Coronado 34
Pool D
Cibolo Steele 53, Austin Vandegrift 21
Amarillo Tascosa 63, Killeen 32
BOYS
Round Two
Pool A
Spring Christian Homeschool Ministries 58, Georgetown 52
Abilene 61, Leander 50
Pool B
San Antonio Churchill 66, College Station Aggieland Homeschool 58
Trophy Club 54, Kyle Lehman 51
Pool C
Magnolia 100, Round Rock McNeil 88
Austin Vandegrift 59, Belton 43
Pool D
Austin Lake Travis 57, San Antonio Stevens 54
College Station A&M Consolidated 62, Round Rock Westwood 61
Round Three
Pool A
Abilene 48, Georgetown 31
Leander 64, Spring Christian Homeschool Ministries 47
Pool B
Trophy Club Byron Nelson 68, San Antonio Churchill 56
College Station Aggieland Homeschool 75, Kyle Lehman 72
Pool C
Austin Vandegrift 60, Magnolia 58
Belton 68, Round Rock McNeil 67
Pool D
Austin Lake Travis 66, College Station A&M Consolidated 53
Round Rock Westwood 76, San Antonio Stevens 46
SUB-VARSITY RESULTS
(GHS scoring only)
PFLUGERVILLE FRESHMAN TOURNAMENT
First Round
GHS JV 58, ROUND ROCK STONY POINT 7 — Megan Wolfe 6, Graci Harris 5, Jordayn Stout 0, Grace Kearney 2, Megan Herring 22, Lauren Woodard 17, Cheyenne Garcia 2, Skylar NeuGent 4, Reece Johnson 0. Halftime: GHS, 32-1. GHS record: 9-1.
Second Round
GHS JV 27, ROUSE JV 22 — Wolfe 0, Harris 10, Stout 3, Kearney 0, Herring 4, Woodard 2, Garcia 0, Neugent 8, Johnson 0. Halftime: GHS, 15-9. GHS record: 10-1.
Source: Lady Eagles Basketball
— By GALEN WELLNICKI