If there is a Louvre-like structure to recognize outstanding achievement in high school basketball, Tuesday night’s District 18-5A girls game between Georgetown and Elgin won’t be on the short-list for enshrinement this season. Coach Rhonda Farney gave a succinct review of the Lady Eagles’ 51-31 victory over Elgin at the Wildcats’ digs. “It was pretty ugly — not our best efforts,” said Farney, “but we’ll take the win” That technically unattractive win improved GHS’ district mark to 2-0 and its season record to 11-7, keeping it in a first-place tie with crosstown rival East View. Hutto is third at 1-0 and Manor is fourth at 1-1.
The Lady Eagles entered Tuesday’s game ranked in both major Class 5A polls. They were listed 19th by the Texas Girls Coaches Association and 25th by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches. Both polls ranked Fort Bend Hightower and Mansfield Timberview 1-2 in the state.
Georgetown has its first-round 18-5A open date this Friday, and to fill what would have been a one-week gap without a game, the Lady Eagles will celebrate Family “Night” on Saturday with a non-district battle against Liberty Hill.
The game with the Class 4A Lady Panthers was originally scheduled for Friday night but was reset for Saturday to accommodate Liberty Hill’s state football playoff game with Carthage at Cypress-Fairbanks on Friday night. Now, the two varsities will play at 3 p.m. Saturday after the freshman game at noon and the junior varsity battle at 1:30 p.m. All teams in 18-5A are open on Tuesday for semester finals. GHS will return to action against Manor at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 21, at Eagle Gym. The Lady Mustangs, who lost to East View in its 18-5A opener, beat Bastrop, 73-48, on Tuesday and will play host to Elgin this Friday. In the win over Elgin, which was playing its 18-5A opener after drawing the opening-round bye, Georgetown jumped to a 14-6 lead after one, led 27-11 at the half and held a 43-25 edge at the end of the third period. The Lady Eagles took a double-digit lead on a bucket by senior Jaelyn Knight at 17-6 early in the second period and pushed the lead to 13 on a basket by senior Samari O’Brien. From that point, the lead never dropped below 12 points with 5 minutes and 36 seconds to play. From that point, GHS closed out the game scoring the final eight points over the final 4:29.
Despite the 20-point victory margin, the game was anything but smooth. The teams combined for 50 turnovers, including numerous errant passes, missed shots, including four makes — all by GHS– in 24 3-point attempts. The Lady Wildcats 12 missed beyond the arch helped sentence them to a 26 shooting percentage (11 of 41). Also, Knight missed a portion of the third period with a halftime disorder, junior McCall Hampton entered the game with at least one ding and picked up a couple more against Elgin, played without one of the regulars in its guard rotation and a couple below average individual performances. Being in sync, was not a term to describe the game.
Sophomore point guard Graci Harris led GHS scoring with 11 points and Hampton and junior guard Kylee Sander added nine and eight points, respectively, as the Lady Eagles shot 45 percent (20 of 44 attempts). Hampton, with nine, and Knight, with eight, led GHS to a 33-18 advantage on the boards. Elgin’s Andrenique Roberson led all scorers with 14 points.
Georgetown swept all three games with Elgin. The Freshman Blue improved its record to 14-1 with a 78-23 triumph and the JV climbed to 13-2 with a 58-13 win. The three victories over Elgin teams was 120 points. Kristin Lott led the Blue to its eighth-consecutive win with 14 points and Dylann Jones and Lauren Cavanaugh both added 12 points. The JV was led by junior Mercedes Robledo with 19 points and Lauren Woodard with 13 points. In other sub-varsity action, the GHS Freshman White will play host to Copperas Cove at 5:30 p.m. Monday.
TUESDAY’S DISTRICT 18-5A GAMES
At Elgin
Varsity
GEORGETOWN 51, ELGIN 31 GHS (51) — Maya Perry 1-2 0-0 2, Kylee Sander 4-7 0-0 8, Ali Isbell 2-4 0-0 5, Samari O’Brien 2-3 0-0 4, Kylie Ellsworth 0-5 0-1 0, Graci Harris 4-9 0-0 11, MacKenzy Mouton 1-3 1-2 3, Jaelyn Knight 2-5 2-2 6, Jade Smith 1-1 1-1 3, McCall Hampton 3-5 3-4 9, Alicia King 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 20-44 (45 percent) 7-10 (70 percent) 51.
ELGIN (31) — Alyssa Broderick 1-4 0-1 2, Jasmine Beriones 0-1 0-0 0, Mariah Bailey 1-7 2-2 4, Alyssa Randall 0-1 0-0 0, Shanice Ross 1-43-4 5, Zyonne Hargrove 0-2 2-2 2, Alyanna Freeman 2-7 0-1 4, Jessica Navejas 0-0 0-0 0, Andrenique Roberson 6-11 2-2 14, Anaya Freeman 0-4 0-0 0, Kerrington Holiday 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 11-41 (26 percent) 9-12 (75 percent) 31.
Halftime: GHS, 27-11. 3-point shooting: GHS 4-12 (Sander 0-1, Isbell 1-3, O’Brien 0-1, Ellsworth 0-1 Harris 3-6); EHS 0-12 (Broderick 0-1, Bailey 0-1, Randall 0-1, Ross 0-2, Al. Freeman 0-3, An. Freeman 0-4). Rebounds: GHS 33/8 offensive (Hampton 9, Knight 8, Ellsworth 4, Smith 4); EHS 18/3 offensive (Roberson 6). Assists: GHS 15 Ellsworth 4, Isbell 3). Steals: GHS 25 (Harris 5, O’Brien 4, Isbell 4, Hampton 4); EHS 7. Blocks: GHS 3 (J. Smith 2, Mouton 1); EHS 0. Turnovers: GHS 24, EHS 26. Total fouls: GHS 14, EHS 16. Fouled out: none. Technical fouls: none. Records: Georgetown, 2-0 in 18-5A; Elgin, 0-1 in 18-5A, 12-11.
Sub-Varsity Games
(GHS scoring only)
GHS JV 58, ELGIN JV 13 — Jordan Stout 3, Bailey Miller 3, Hailey Hanson 0, Reece Johnson 6, Grace Kearney 0, Natalie Hutchens 2, McKenna Jansen 2, Vyctorya Lehr 2, Mercedes Robledo 19, Megan Herring 8, Lauren Woodard 13, Maddie LaCour 0. Halftime: GHS, 2-0 in 18-5A, 22-6. GHS record: 14-2.
GHS FRESHMAN BLUE 78, ELGIN FRESHMEN 23 — Samantha Folsom 4, Jacqui Spencer 9, Ella Vickers 6, Kristin Lott 14. Lauren Cavanaugh 12, Sheila Lee 8, Brielle Maxwell 7, Baylie Foster 0, Dylann Jones 12, Morgan Larson 6, Abigail Rutledge 0. Halftime: GHS, 24-4. GHS record:2-0 in 18-5A, 14-1. Note: Statistics and names provided by Lady Eagles basketball.
UPCOMING LADY EAGLES SCHEDULE
Single Games
Saturday, Dec. 15 — Liberty Hill (ND), 3 p.m.(Rescheduled from Friday). Tuesday, Dec. 18 — Open date. Friday, Dec. 21 — Manor (18-5A), 5:30 p.m.
State Farm Classic
At Riverdale High School, Nashville, Tenn.
(Showcase Format)
Thursday, Dec. 27 — Dickson County, 6:15 p.m. Friday, Dec. 28 — Bearden, 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 29 — Houston, 4:30 p.m.
DISTRICT 18-5A RACE AT A GLANCE
Standings
Georgetown, 2-0; East View, 2-0; Hutto, 1-0; Manor, 1-1; Elgin, 0-1; Bastrop, 0-2; Bastrop Cedar Creek, 0-2.
Tuesday’s results: Georgetown 51, Elgin 31.; East View 54, Bastrop Cedar Creek 12; Manor 73, Bastrop 48. Bye — Hutto.
Friday’s games: East View at Hutto, 7 p.m.; Elgin at Manor, 7 p.m.; Bastrop at Cedar Creek, 7 p.m. Bye — Georgetown.
District Point Differential
Georgetown. 123-77; East View, 91-47; Hutto, 70-27; Manor, 108-85; Elgin, 31-51; Bastrop, 94-145; Cedar Creek, 39-124.
COMPLETE DISTRICT 18-5A SCHEDULE
FIRST ROUND
Tuesday, Dec. 4 — Georgetown 72, Bastrop 46; East View 37, Manor 35; Hutto 70, Bastrop Cedar Creek 27. Bye — Elgin.
Tuesday, Dec. 11 — Georgetown 51, Elgin 31; East View 54, Cedar Creek 12; Manor 73, Bastrop 48. Bye — Hutto.
Friday, Dec. 14 — East View at Hutto, Elgin at Manor, Bastrop at Cedar Creek. Bye — Georgetown.
Friday, Dec. 21 — Manor at Georgetown, Hutto at Bastrop, Cedar Creek at Elgin. Bye: East View.
Friday, Jan. 4 — Bastrop at East View, Georgetown at Cedar Creek, Elgin at Hutto. Bye — Manor.
Tuesday, Jan. 8 — Cedar Creek at Manor, East View at Elgin, Hutto at Georgetown. Bye — Bastrop.
Friday, Jan. 11 — Elgin at Bastrop, Manor at Hutto, East View at Georgetown, Bye — Cedar Creek.
SECOND ROUND
Tuesday, Jan. 15 — Cedar Creek at Hutto, Georgetown at Bastrop, Manor at East View. Bye — Elgin.
Friday, Jan. 18 — Elgin at Georgetown, East View at Cedar Creek, Bastrop at Manor. Bye — Hutto.
Tuesday, Jan. 22 — Hutto at East View, Manor at Elgin, Cedar Creek at Bastrop. Bye — Georgetown.
Friday, Jan. 25 — Georgetown at Manor, Bastrop at Hutto, Elgin at Cedar Creek. Bye — East View.
Tuesday, Jan. 29 — East View at Bastrop, Cedar Creek at Georgetown, Hutto at Elgin. Bye — Manor.
Friday, March 1 — Manor at Cedar Creek, Elgin at East View, Georgetown at Hutto. Bye — Bastrop.
Tuesday, March 5 — Bastrop at Elgin, Hutto at Manor, Georgetown at East View. Bye — Cedar Creek.
TEXAS GIRLS COACHES ASSOCIATION
CLASS 5A TOP 20
(Released late Monday, Dec. 10)
1. Fort Bend Hightower. 2. Mansfield Timberview. 3. San Antonio Veterans Memorial. 4. Amarillo. 5. Manvel. 6. Kerrville Tivy. 7. Cedar Park. 8. Birdville. 9. Royse City. 10. Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial. 11. Saginaw Boswell. 12. Waller. 13. Pflugerville. 14. Lubbock Cooper. 15. Richmond Foster. 16. Mansfield Legacy. 17. Austin Crockett. 18. Midlothian. 19. GEORGETOWN. 20. Crowley. Honorable mention: Frisco Lone Star, College Station, Corpus Christi Tuloso-Midway, Frisco Liberty, Cleburne and The Colony.
TEXAS ASSOCIATION OF BASKETBALL COACHES
CLASS 5A TOP 25
(Released Monday, Dec. 10)
1. Fort Bend Hightower (17-0). 2. Mansfield Timberview (15-1). 3. Amarillo. 4. Manvel. 5. Kerrville Tivy. 6. San Antonio Veterans Memorial. 7. Corpus Christi Memorial. 8. Cedar Park. 9. Birdville. 10. Waller. 11. Royse City. 12. Mansfield Legacy. 13. Austin Crockett. 14. Saginaw Boswell. 15. Crowley. 16. Frisco Lone Star. 17. College Station. 18. Midlothian. 19. Lubbock Cooper. 20. Corpus Christi Tuloso-Midway. 21. Cleburne. 22. Richmond Foster. 23. Pflugerville. 24. The Colony. 25. GEORGETOWN.