After falling behind 10-1 in the first four minutes and 22 seconds of Thursday night’s area-round playoff game with eighth-ranked Temple at Harker Heights, the Georgetown Lady Eagles grabbed the momentum in the second quarter and trailed the favored Tem-Cats, 18-16, at the half.
But Temple refueled its jets at halftime and domined the third quarter en route to a 43-24 victory over Georgetown as it outscored the Lady Eagles, 25-8, over the final 16 minutes. Back-to-back pair 3-pointers by Breyaunna Sigler in an 85-second span increased a two-point advantage to eight-points, igniting the Tem-Cats’ dominace down the stretch.
The victory improved Temple’s season record to 28-5 and moved the Tem-Cats into a 7 p.m. Tuesday area quarterfinal with 17-5A champion Ennis (22-14) at Waco Midway. Ennis upset Rouse, 48-47, in its area game on Friday night.
The winner of the Temple-Ennis game will advance to the Region III-5A tournament this weekend at the Del Mar Field House in Houston where it will meet either No. 2 Mont Belvieu Barbers Hill (37-2) or Manvel (28-8) in the semifinals on Friday.
Coach Rhonda Farney’s Lady Eagles completed their season with a 24-10 record that included a second-place tie with Rouse in 19-5A with a 13-3 district mark.
“I thought our kids played hard and I’m really proud of what the girls accomplished this season,” Fayney said. “I thought Temple regrouped and played really well in the third quarter. We didn’t get to the free throw line as much as we usually do and we missed some shots at key times. Siegler’s two threes got them going in the third quarter.”
Temple coach Tamarah Sanders also pointed to Sigler’s treys as key moments in the game.
“That got us going,” Sanders told Joshua Weaver of the Temple-Telegram. “I talked to her at the half and told her to keep shooting.”
The first half had been an uncharacteristic poor shooting performance for the usually high-scoring Tem-Cats as they made only eight of 29 attempts, including only one of 13 beyond the arc. Of course, it wasn’t a strong 3-point performance for either team as Temple finished with four makes in 22 attempts. The Lady Eagles made only one of seven from long range and, at times, had trouble getting off any shots.
Asked about the closeness of the game at halftime, Sanders said, “No panic at all.”
Temple’s Keziah Dillworth, who along with twin sister Jhayka started their varsity careers at Vista Ridge, said that the Tem-Cats did find themselves in an unusual position.
“It was tough (the first-half shooting problems),” she told Weaver. “We haven’t been in that situation before, so we didn’t know how to respond at first. But coach talked to us at halftime and told us to take our time. Coach was lighting a fire under our butts, definitely.”
Georgetown scored the first seven points of the second quarter on a free throw by senior guard Maddie Vickers, a rebound put-back by junior Jade Smith, a basket by junior forward Jaelyn Knight and a layup by Vickers. After THS scored its only two points of the period, Vickers cut the deficit at the half to two points with a pair of free throws.
A 3-pointer by Vickers with 6:07 remaining in the third quarter cut the Tem-Cats’ lead to one at 20-19, but things quickly got out of hand as Sigler’s two 3-pointers and six free throws and a bucket by Wilashia Burleson put Temple ahead by 14 with 14 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
Georgetown, which made just eight of 31 shots from the floor in 32 minutes and seven of 14 free throws, only scored two points in the fourth quarter — individual free throws by sophomore Mackenzy Mouton and Vickers.
The Lady Eagles turned the ball over 30 times, but did post a 25-23 edge on the boards with Smith grabbing seven rebounds and Vickers six. Vickers also added six of GHS’ 14 steals.
Vickers’ accounted for half of Georgetown’s scoring with 12 points, while sophomore guard Kylie Ellsworth was the No. 2 scorer with four.
J. Dillworth and Burleson led Temple scoring with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Thursday’s contest was the final game as a Lady Eagle for seniors — Vickers, Josie Weirich and Emli Harris along with student trainer Caitlin Garza.
District champion Cedar Park (29-7) is the lone remaining 19-5A team in the playoffs and will face 20-5A co-titlist Magnolia West (23-10) in a 7:30 p.m. Tuesday regional quarterfinal at Flatonia. The winner will advance to the regional tournament where it will face either Crosby (30-7) or Humble Kingwood Park (23-9) in Friday’s semifinals.
LADY EAGLE NOTEBOOK: Freshman Graci Harris, who has been listed on the GHS roster all season, but played all year with the 19-5A champion Freshman Blue squad, made her varsity debut against Temple. . . . Sophomore McCall Hampton missed the last eight and a half games of the season with a knee injury that required surgery, but she was misidentified as playing in Thursday game in a color photograph on the sports cover of the Temple Daily Telegram. The Lady Eagle in the picture with teammate Maddie Vickers and Temple’s Wilashia Burleson was actually fellow sophomore Mackenzy Mouton — No. 30 and not No. 50.
REGION III-5A AREA GAME
at Harker Heights, Feb. 15
TEMPLE 43, GEORGETOWN 24
TEMPLE (43) — Breyaunna Sigler 3-8 0-1 9. Taliyah Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Jhakya Dillworth 5-11 1-2 12, Chadricka Pickett 0-3 3-4 3, Alexis Lewis 0-0 0-0 0, Wilashia Burleson 5-10 1-1 11, Keziah Dilworth 1-5 4-4 6, Coryn Grovey 0-7 2-2 2. Totals: 14-45 11-14 43.
GHS (24) — Graci Harria 0-2 0-0 0, Ali Isbell 0-4 0-0 0, Josie Weirich 0-1 0-0 0, Haily Smith 0-1 0-0 0, Samari O’Brien 0-1 0-0 0, Kylie Elsworth 2-7 0-0 4, Mackenzy Mouton 1-1 1-2 3, Jaelyn Knight 1-6 1-2 3, Maddie Vickers 3-4 5-10 12, Emili Harris 0-0 0-0 0, Jade Smith 1-4 0-0 2. Totals: 8-31 7-14 24.
Halftime: THS, 18-16. 3-point shooting: THS 4-22 (Sigler 3-8, T. Johnson 0-1, J. Dillworth 1-2, Pickett 0-1, K. Dilworth 0-3, Grovey 0-6); GHS 1-7 (G. Harris 0-1, Isbell 0-2, H. Smith 0-1, Ellsworth 0-2, Vickers 1-1). Rebounds: THS 23, GHS 25 (J. Smith 7, Vickers 6, Mouton 4, Knight 3). Assists: GHS 1 (Weirich). Steals: THS 14, GHS 14 (Vickers 6, H. Smith 3). Blocks: THS 6, GHS 2 (J. Smith 2). Turnovers: THS 17, GHS 30. Total fouls: THS 12, GHS 11. Fouled out: none. Technical fouls: none. Records: Temple 28-5; Georgetown, 24-10.
Source: Lady Eagles Basketball.
REGION III-5A RESULTS
AREA ROUND RESULTS
(In bracket order)
Top of Bracket
Magnolia West 69, Waco University 59
Cedar Park 54, Bryan Rudder 47
Crosby 71, Fort Bend Elkins 48
Humble Kingwood Park 33, Galveston Ball 29
Bottom of Bracket
Temple 43, Georgetown 24
Ennis 48, Rouse 47
Manvel 43, Beaumont Ozen 38
Mont Belvieu Barbers Hill 89, Alvin Shadow Creek 49
***
REGIONAL QUARTERFINAL PAIRINGS
(In bracket order)
Top of Bracket
Magnolia West vs. Cedar Park, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Flatonia.
Crosby vs. Humble Kingwood, Park, 7 p.m. Tuesday, Humble Atascocita.
Botton of Bracket
Temple vs. Ennis, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Waco Midway.
Manvel vs. Barbers Hill, 6 p.m. Tuesday, LaPorte.
Note: Regional quarterfinal winners advance to the Region III-5A Tournament at Del Mar Fieldhouse in Houston on Friday and Saturday.
GHS LADY EAGLES PLAYOFF ROSTER
No.– Name Cl. Pos. Ht.
10 — Mercedes Robledo So. F 5-8
12 — Graci Harris Fr. G 5-6
13 — Kylee Sander So. G 5-6
14 — Ali Isbell Jr. G 5-6
15 — Josie Weirich Sr. G 5-0
20 — Hailey Smith So. G 5-6
22 — Samari O’Brien Jr. G 5-6
24 — KJylie Ellsworth So. G 5-6
25 — Maya Perry So. G 5-7
30 — Mackenzy Mouton So. P 6-0
32 — Jaelyn Knight Jr. F 5-11
33 — Maddie Vickers Sr. G 5-7
35 — Emili Harris Sr. F 5-11
40 — Hailey Hanson So. G 5-6
42 — Jade Smith Jr. P 6-0
45 — Alicia King Jr. P 6-0
50 — McCall Marshall So. F 5-9
Head coach: Rhonda Farney (Howard Payne).
Assistant coaches: Kellye Richardson (Texas Tech), Kristin Curtis (Tarleton State), Kevin Spruill (Texas State).
Managers: Na’Keia Cook, Rachel Heine, Maddie Jackson, Lexie Mullen, Madison Rincon, Chloe Sutton, Celest Valdez.
Athletic trainers: Vanessa Morales, Chad Hennessey.
Student athletic trainers: Caitlin Garza, Ember Verde.
Athletics Director: Todd York
— By Galen Wellnicki