After putting a major dent in Rouse’s Family Night celebration with a 48-33 victory on Tuesday, the Georgetown Lady Eagles will try to hold on to second place in the 19-5A race when they face front-running Cedar Park at 7 p.m. Friday at Eagle Gym.
Going into the final two regular-season playing dates Cedar Park leads the race at 14-0, Georgetown is second at 12-2 and Rouse is third at 11-3. Pflugerville Connally has clinched the district’s fourth playoff spot, but stands a modest 8-6 after being upset 38-31 by East View on Tuesday night.
To earn an undistputed claim on the runner runner-up slot and the district’s second seeding for the 128-team UIL Class 5A state playoffs, Georgetown probably has to beat both Cedar Park on Friday and then bounce Bastrop Cedar Creek on the road on Tuesday night.
Plaing on its homecourt, Cedar Park won the first meeting 52-42 on the first playing date after district play resumed in January. GHS has won seven-consecutive games since that loss.
Rouse can move back into a tie with the Lady Eagles with a win at Connally Friday, if Georgetown loses to Cedar Park. The Raiders will close out Tuesday at home with Hutto. Rouse won the first meeting at Eagle Gym, 45-41, on Dec. 19, so neither team has the head-to-head tie-breaker.
If there is a tie, it can be settled in several ways, including a head-to-head playoff, a coin flip or an agreement between the head coaches on which seeding they want in the playoffs. Current consensus is the third seed would be an easier route, avoiding No. 8 Temple (24-5 and 10-0 in 18-5A) in the second round.
Should Georgetown earn the second seed it would play the third place from 20-5A in bi-district and, if it finishes third, it would face the 18-5A runner-up. Currently, Magnolia West (10-2), Tomball Memorial (9-3) and Huntsville (8-4) are battling for first through third with two games to play.
Going into this week, the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches had Region III-5A teams ranked in the following manner — 2. Barbers Hill (32-2); 7. Houstom Madison; 8. Temple; 12. Cedar Park; 13. Rouse (25-8); 21. Georgetown and 22. Crosby. Mansfield Timberview is the sttate’s top-ranked team and entered the week with a 31-2 mark.
On Tuesday night, Georgetown virtually flipped the script on Rouse. In the first meeting, the Raiders jumped to a 20-3 with slightly less than four minutes remaining in the first half and shot better than 50 percent from the floor. This time, the Lady Eagles, now 22-8 on the year, were up 26-8 at the half and the Raiders only made 30 percent of their 43 shots.
After falling behind 6-2 in the opening five minutes of the game, GHS scored 18 consecutive points, including four 3-pointers — two by junior guard Ali Isbell and one each by sophomore guard Kylie Ellweorth and senior guard Maddie Vickers. Senior guard Josie Weirich dropped in two 3-pointers in the second haff.
Rouse cut the GHS lead to 13 four times in the third quarter, but Weirich’s first trey, bounced the lead up to 16 at the end of three quarters. Back-to-back buckets by Taylor Douthitt cut the Lady Eagles’ lead to 11 with 2:53 remaining in the game, but the Raiders would get no closer as GHS put down five free throws and a bucket off a steal by Vickers to bounce the lead out to 18 before Rouse’s Brittney Martin concluded he scoring with a 3-pointer wth 15 seconds to play.
“It was a really good win,” said GHS head coach Rhonda Farney. “I’m really proud of the way the kids started. We knew we could play this way when we hit our full stride. We did everything we didn’t do in the first game.”
Georgetown’s captains were following the party line.
“We were prepared and played with a lot of confidence,” Weirich said. “Coach told us to keep the pedal to the metal in practice and that makes everything work.”
“I’m really proud (of what we did),” Vickers said. “We played with more confidence and were better prepared.”
Asked if the Lady Eagles were ready for Cedar Park, she answered, “Absolutely, if we show up and play the way we can, we can really win.”
“We came to play,” Knight said. “We had a lot more energy and weren’t afraid to take our shots. We stayed on a roll.”
For the seventh straight game, GHS held an opponents to 34 percent or less from the floor. They also claimed a 30-24 edge on the boards with the 5-foot-11 Knight grabbing eigh rebounds and Vickers and Isbell each adding six.
Rouse’s Douthitt led all scorers with 13 points, while Weirich, Knight and Vickers had 11, 10 and eight, respectively for GHS.
The Freshman Blue improved to 14-0 in 19-5A with a 43-21 victory behind a 23-point scoring effort by Graci Harris and 12 points by Jordayn Stout. The Blue (25-2 on the season), which held Rouse to just four points in the first half, can clinch the outright 19-5A title with a win over Cedar Park Friday.
“I was really proud of the Freshman Blue,” Farney said.
However, the GHS JV was not as fortunate as they fell 45-38 to Rouse after getting off to a slow start. They now stand 12-2 in 19-5A with two games to play. The JV, which fell to 24-3 for the season, were led by 11 points from Maya Perry, 10 from Mercedes Robledo and nine from Hailey Smith.
Both sub-varsity games with Cedar Park are scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Friday.
GEORGETOWN VS. ROUSE
At Rouse, Tuesday, Jan. 30
VARSITY
GHS 48, ROUSE 33
GHS (48) — Ali Isbell 2-3 1-2 7, Josie Weirich 3-6 3-4 11, Samari O’Brien 0-0 2-2 2, Kylie Ellsworth 2-4 1-2 6, Mackenzy Mouton 1-4 0-0 2, Jaelyn Knight 3-8 4-4 10, Maddie Vickers 2-4 3-3 8, Jade Smith 1-4 0-0 2. Totals: 14-33 14-17 48.
ROUSE (33) — Brittney Martin 1-5 0-0 3, Taylor Douthitt 4-9 2-2 13, Chloe Austin 0-4 1-2 1, Anna Armstrong 0-2 0-0 0, Emily Schaible 0-4 0-0 0, Zarah Jackson 0-2 0-0 0, Ashley Onyango 4-8 0-0 8, Kania Jackson 0-0 0-2 0, Ashley Thompson 4-9 0-2 8. Totals: 13-43 3-8 33.
Halftime: GHS, 26-8. 3-point shooting: GHS 6-11 (Isbell 2-2, Weirich 3-4, Ellsworth 1-2, Knight 0-1, Vickers 1-2); RHS 4-24 (Martin 1-5, Douthitt 3-8, Austin -4, Armstrong 0-2, Schaible 0-2, Onyango 0-1, Thompson 0-2); Rebounds: GHS 30 (Knight 8, Vickers 6, Isbell 6, Mouton 4, Smith 4); RHS 24. Assists: GHS 12 (Weirich 4, Isbell 2, Vickers 2). Steals: GHS 6 (Knight 3). Blocks: GHS 3 (Smith 2, Knight); RHS 1. Turovers: GHS 11, RHS 12. Total fouls: GHS 10, Rouse 16. Fouled out: none. Technical fouls: none. Records: Georgetown, 12-2 in 19-5A, 22-8; Rouse, 11-3 in 19-5A, 25-8.
DISTRICT 19-5A RACE AT A GLANCE
(Through games of Jan. 30)
Standings: x-Cedar Park, 14-0; x-Georgetown, 12-2; x-Rouse, 11-3; x-Pflugerville Connally, 8-6; East View, 5-9; Hutto, 5-9; Bastrop, 5-10; Elgin, 2-12; Bastrop Cedar Creek, 2-13.
x — clinched playoff berth.
Tuesday’s results — Georgetown 48, Rouse 33; East View 38, Connally 31; Cedar Park 77, Cedar Creek 37; Hutto 62, Bastrop 53. Bye: Elgin.
Friday’s games — Cedar Park at Georgetown, 7 p.m.; East View at Hutto, 7 p.m.; Rouse at Connally, 7 p.m.; Bastrop at Elgin, 7 p.m. Bye: Cedar Creek.
Tuesday’s games — Georgetown at Cedar Creek, 7 p.m.; Connally at Cedar Park, 7 p.m.; Hutto at Rouse, 7 p.m.; Elgin at East View, 7 p.m. Bye: Bastrop.
(End of regular season)
AROUND THE REGION
(Through games of Jan. 26)
Standings
District 20-5A — x-Magnolia West, 10-2; x-Tomball, Memorial, 9-3; x-Huntsville, 8-4; Willis, 7-5; Waller, 5-7; Tomball. 5-7; Magnolia, 3-9; Brenham, 1-11.
x — clinched playoff berth.
Tuesday’s results — Magnolia West 48, Waller 37; Tomball Memorial 50, Magnolia 45.; Tomball 45, Huntsville 43.; Willis 58, Brenham 48.
Friday’s games — Willis at Magnolis, 6:30 p.m.; Tomball at Magnolia West, 6:30 p.m.; Waller at Tomball Memorial, 6:30 p.m.; Huntsville at Brenham, 6:30 p.m.
***
District 18-5A — x-Temple, 10-0; x-Waco University, 7-3; x-Bryan Rudder, 7-3; College Station, 5-6; College Station A&M Consolidated, 4-7; Waco, 3-7; Bryan, 0-10.
x-clinched playoff berth..
Tuesday’s results — College Station, 60, Waco 45; Bryan Rudder 58. Bryan 32; Waco University 75, A&M Consolidated 45. Bye: Temple.
Friday’s games — College Station at Temple, 6:30 p.m.; Waco University at Bryan Rudder, 6;30 p.m.; Bryan at Waco, 6:30 p.m. Bye: A&M Consolidated.
***
District 17-5A — x- Ennis, 8-0; x- Nacogdoches, 7-1; Jacksonville, 3-5; Lindale, 3-5; Corsicana, 2-6, Whitehouse, 1-7.
x– clinched playoff berth.
Tuesday’s results — Ennis 64, Whitehouse 25; Lindale 38, Corsicana 16; Nacogdoches 63, Jacksonville 16.
SUB-VARSITY GAMES
(GHS scoring only)
ROUSE JV 45, GHS JV 38 — A’Brielle Abrams 0, Kylee Sander 6, Hailry Hanson 0, Hailey Smith 9, Maya Perry 11, Mercedes Robledo 10, SuleEllen Alnrecht 0, Alicia King 4. Halftime: RHS, 24-14. GHS record: 12-2 in 19-5A, 24-3.
GHS FRESHMAN BLUE 43, ROUSE FRESHMEN 21 — Meagan Wolfe 0, Graci Harris 23, Reece Johnson 0, Jordayn Stout 12, Vyctorya Lehr 2, Grace Kearney 2, Megan Herring 0, Lauren Woodard 2, Skylar Neugent 2, Maddie LaCour 0. Halftime: GHS, 21-4. GHS record, 14-0 in 19-5A, 25-2.
Source: Lady Eagles Basketball.
— By GALEN WELLNICKI