The high school basketball season can be equated with a good old-fashioned country dinner — a tossed salad with few frills, a chicken fry (steak) with smashed taters and cream gravy, and a berry cobbler topped with ice cream. That’s even true in the year of the pandemic. However, there is a much greater chance this time around that the plates will be cleared from the table before completion of the repast and a hefty check presented at the same time. Remember, last season was terminated on the first day of the UIL Girls State Basketball Tournament. There are no guarantees for this season. But the season currently still consists of a salad (non-district games), the main course (the district race), and the dessert (the state playoffs).
For most Class 5A teams such as Georgetown and its seven District 25-5A sisters, the salad plates were cleared from the table this past weekend except for non-district games on open dates and a few tune-up contests at the end of the Christmas break. Coach Rhonda Farney’s Lady Eagles completed the salad course with a 7-2 record — one of the best in 25-5A — only having to digest four wilted lettuce leaves — losses to Bryan Rudder and Waco La Vega along with canceled contests with two 6A schools — Cedar Ridge and Austin Vandegrift. That salad portion of the season ended Friday night with a 39-20 victory over Belton at Eagle Gym. Although, GHS has games over the holiday district intermission with Copperas Cove and Temple on December 29 and 30 and possibly could add another outing on December 28 they probably will fall short of this year’s maximum number of games. At the current time, GHS will play 25 of the allowed 27 regular-season games allowed by the UIL during this campaign altered by Covid-19, including the 14-game double-round-robin in 25-5A. Volleyball completed its double-round-robin in 25-5A, but it required three games a week down the stretch and eventual champion Leander Rouse having to make up three games in the week prior to the playoffs. There are no tournaments — such as the local Jack Frost Invitational –to enhance schedules this season. Those two or three events can add between six and 15 games to a schedule prior to the start of district play.
“It was a very physical game,” Farney said of the contest with Belton. “I was proud our girls were able to keep their composure. Niah (the Lady Eagles’ 6-foot-4 center Williams) took a pounding. “For the second straight game (the last-second loss to La Vega on Tuesday) we lost our momentum in the second quarter and let them back in the game. I challenged the girls at halftime to get back to doing what we needed to do. They came back and did what we had to do in the season half.” Asked about the 25-5A race that begins at 8 p.m. Tuesday on the usual-friendly hardwoods at Eagle Gym against Leander Glenn, Farney answered, “We feel our defense and conditioning will help us. Right now, there appear to be three other teams playing on about the same level as us.” Glenn, which is coached by former Georgetown assistant Jordan Ramey, stands 5-4 on the season after dropping a 50-46 decision to 6A Round Rock Stony Point. The Grizzlies’ other losses have been to Vandegrift, Burnet, and Round Rock Westwood.
Three 25-5A teams will begin the district campaigns in the top 20 of both the Texas Girls Coaches Association and Texas Association of Basketball Coaches Class 5A rankings, including Cedar Park, which stands atop both polls. Georgetown is listed 11th and Leander Rouse is at 20th by the THCA listing and 12th and 19th, respectively, by the TABC. Other records of 25-5A teams on the eve of the district are Cedar Park, 6-1; Rouse, 7-2; East View, 7-2; Liberty Hill, 4-4; Leander, 3-4; and Marble Falls, 1-6. The Lady Eagles are scheduled to travel to Marble Falls on Friday for their second district encounter. Under district pandemic mandates for the current season, freshman games will start at 5:15 p.m. with junior varsity battles at 6:30 p.m. and varsity matchups at 8 p.m.
In Friday’s action with 6A Belton, GHS jumped to a 13-1 lead in the first quarter, but the visiting Lady Tigers (3-5) were able to close the gap to 16-13 at halftime as they scored the final 10 points of the second quarter. GHS did not score in the final 4:20 of that period. However, the Lady Eagles outscored Belton, 14-3, in the third quarter and 9-4 in the final period of what ended up as a bruising battle. Williams proved to be the only double-digit scorer in the game with 10 points. She also had seven rebounds and three blocks. Jacqui Spencer and Graci Harris added eight and seven points, respectively for GHS. It definitely was not a shooter’s paradise. GHS made only one of its 14 3-point attempts and Belton connected on only eight of 43 shots from the floor (18 percent) and two of nine from the line (22 percent). Shelby Foster scored eight points and was the only Lady Tiger with more than four points. The Lady Eagles did have a 33-26 edge on the boards.
***
The Georgetown JV improved its record to 10-0 this past weekend with a 58-10 pasting of the Belton JV on Friday and a 46-30 win over the Florence varsity on Saturday. Coach Corey Cunningham’s Lady Eagles shutout Belton, 39-0, in the first half and increased the margin to 41-0 before Belton finally scored with 6:07 remaining in the third quarter. It was the second-straight one-sided victory for GHS as it had beaten Waco La Vega, 67-5, on Tuesday in Bellmead. Brooke White and Taylor Meyners paced a balanced attack with 11 points each and Madelyne Furr and Avery Lopez each added nine and Jane Butler scored eight. Against the Class 3A Florence Buffaloes, varsity White and Meyes scored 12 and 10, respectively. Two members of the Freshman Blue — Caroline Rutledge and Lucy Waring — got playing time. Furr was held out of the contest since she logged playing time in both the JV and varsity games with La Vega.
In the Freshman game with Belton, coach Katie Youngblood’s Blue took a 49-17 win to improve to 6-1 on the season as the GHS defense held the first-year Lady Tigers to eight points in the first half and nine in the second. Waring and Rutledge led GHS with 17 and 13 points, respectively. In an oddity, in a most-odd school year, the first half of the game was played in Eagle Gym and the second half in the GHS auxiliary gym because a bat had invaded Eagle Gym and required the services of animal control to remove the unwanted spectator. The GHS Freshman White forced by the bat to move their game with the Salado A to the GHS Annex gym dropped a 38-34 decision to the visitors. Maddee Sherbrook paced GHS scoring with 12 points and Melodi Valdez added seven points, while Tayler Phillips and Faith Phillips each had six. The White team is 1-4 for the season.
***
FRIDAY’S VARSITY GAME
At Eagle Gym
GEORGETOWN 39, BELTON 20
BELTON (20) — Nylah Modeste 1-11 1-3 4, Karina Fisher 1-7 0-0 2, Anna Beamesderfer 1-4 0-0 2, Jenna Blank 0-2 0-0 0, Shelby Foster 3-10 1-2 8, Ayanna Jones 1-4 0-0 2, A’Naya Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Lillian Small 0-3 0-0 0, Mo Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Burnett 1-2 0-2 2. Totals: 8-43 (18 percent) 2-9 (22 percent) 20.
GEORGETOWN (39) — Ella Vickers 1-3 0-0 2, Niah Williams 5-8 0-0 10, Jacqui Spencer 2-6 3-6 8, Sam Folsom 1-1 0-2 2, Morgan Larson 0-1 1-2 1, Graci Harris 2-9 3-4 7, Megan Harring 1-2 0-2 2, Jordyn Stout 0-4 0-0 0, Lauren Woodard 3-4 0-0 6, Sheila Lee 0-0 1-5 1. Totals: 15-37 (40.5 percent) 8-21 (38 percent) 39.
Halftime: GHS, 16-13. 3-point shooting: BHS, 2-2-20 (Modeste 1-4, Fisher 0-6, Foster 0-1, Blank 0-2, Foster 1-6, Small 0-1); GHS, 1-14 (Vickers 0-2, Spencer 1-2, Larson 0-1, Harris 0-5, Stout 0-4). Assists: GHS, 10 (Spencer 2, Harris 2, Woodard 2). Rebounds: BHS, 26, 6 offensive (Small 7, Foster 5, Fisher 5); GHS, 33, 10 offensive (Williams 7, Woodard 5, Harris 5, Spencer 4, Stout 4). Blocks: BHS 1, GHS 3 (Williams 3). Steals: BHS, 6; GHS 16 (Harris 4, Morgan 3, Spencer 3). Turnovers: BHS, 14; GHS, 12. Total fouls: BHS, 16; GHS, 12. Fouled out: none. Technical fouls: none. Records: Belton, 3-5; Georgetown, 7-2.
***
FRIDAY’S SUB VARSITY GAMES
At Eagle Gym
(GHS scoring only)
JUNIOR VARSITY
GEORGETOWN 58, BELTON 10
GHS (58) — Natalie Rivera 0 1-2 1, Eric Ramthun 0 0-2 0, Brooke White 4 0-0 11, Avery Lopez 4 1-2 9, Taylor Meyners 3 4-6 11, Madelyne Furr 3 3-5 9, Amiya Gonzales 2 0-0 4, Jane Butler 3 0-0 8, Abby Brent 2 1-2 5. Totals: 21 10-19 58.
Halftime: GHS, 39-0.
3-point field goals: White 3, Butler 2, Meyners 1.
GHS season record: 9-0.
FRESHMAN A (BLUE)
GEORGETOWN 49, BELTON 17
GHS (49) — Itzel Bazaldua 0 0-2 0, Bella Flowers 0 0-0 0, Caroline Rutledge 4 5-9 13, Ashlyn Sanchez 1 2-6 40, Lucy Waring 7 3-4 17, Ava Linyard 2 3-5 7, Aspen Mayo 4 0-0 8. Totals: 18 13-26 49. Halftime: GHS, 25-8. 3-point field goals: none. GHS season record: 6-1.
FRESHMAN B (WHITE)
At GHS Auxiliary Gym
SALADO A 38, GEORGETOWN 34
GHS (34) — Ashley Valverde 0 0-0 0, Faith Philips 3 0-0 6, Lexi Hatch 0 0-0 0, Melodi Valdez 3 1-4 7, Mariah Noel 1 1-2 3, Maddee Sherbrook 5 2-2 12, Anna Eddy 0 0-0 0, Tayler Phillips 3 0-0 6. Halftime: Salado, 18-17. 3-point field goals: none. GHS season record: 1-4.
***
SATURDAY’S SUB-VARSITY GAME
At Florence
JUNIOR VARSITY
GEORGETOWN JV 46, FLORENCE VARSITY 30
GHS (46) — Natalie Rivera 0 0-0 0, Erica Ramthun 2 0-1 5, Brooke White 4 1-2 12, Avery Lopez 3 0-0 6, Taylor Meyners 5 0-1 10, Amiya Gonzales 1 2-5 4, Jane Butler 2 0-0 5, Abby Brent 1 1-2 3, Caroline Rutledge 0 1-4-1, Lucy Waring 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 5-15 46. Halftime: GHS, 23-11. 3-point field goals: White 3, Ramthun 1, Butler 1. GHS record: 10-0.
***
THIS WEEK’S LADY EAGLES SCHEDULE
(Subject to change)
VARSITY
Tuesday — Leander Glenn, 8 p.m. Friday — at Marble Falls, 8 p.m.
JUNIOR VARSITY
Tuesday — Leander Glenn, 6:30 p.m. Friday– at Marble Falls, 6:30 p.m.
FRESHMAN BLUE
Tuesday — Leander Glenn, 5:15 p.m. Friday — at Marble Falls, 5:15 p.m.
FRESHMAN WHITE
Tuesday — at Jarrell, 6:30 p.m.
***
DISTRICT 25-5A AT A GLANCE
Standings — Georgetown, 0-0; Cedar Park, 0-0; East View, 0-0; Leander, 0-0; Leander Glenn, 0-0; Leander Rouse, 0-0; Liberty Hill, 0-0; Marble Falls, 0-0.
Tuesday’s games — Glenn at Georgetown, 8 p.m.; Marble Falls at Cedar Park, 8 p.m.; Liberty Hill at East View, 8 p.m.; Leander at Rouse, 8 p.m.
Friday’s games — Georgetown at Marble Falls, 8 p.m.; East View at Glenn, 8 p.m.; Cedar Park at Leander, 8 p.m.; Rouse at Liberty Hill, 8 p.m.
(Schedule subject to change because of Covid-19 pandemic).
***
TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL COACHES ASSOCIATION
CLASS 5A RANKINGS
- Cedar Park, 6-1; 2. Princeton, 10-0; 3. Humble Kingwood Park. 9-0; 4. Bryan Rudder, 4-0; 5. Lubbock Cooper, 9-0; 6. Boerne Champion, 6-0; 7. Amarillo, 2-1; 8. El Paso Andress, 4-0; 9. Wichita Falls Rider, 4-0; 10. Beaumont United, 4-0; 11. GEORGETOWN, 7-2; 12. Corpus Christi Ray, 3-1; 13. College Station, 3-2; 14. El Paso Burgess, 4-0; 15. Mansfield Legacy, 8-1; 16. Port Neches-Groves, 6-1; 17. San Antonio McCollum, 6-1; 18. Pflugerville Hendrickson, 6-2; 19. Rio Grande City, 4-0; 20. Leander Rouse, 7-2; 21. Fulshear Jordan, 4-1; 22. Burleson, 6-2; 23. Fort Worth Wyatt, 8-2. 24. Friendswood, 6-1; 25. Richmond Foster, 7-2.
Note: Records provided by TGCA.
TEXAS ASSOCIATION OF BASKETBALL COACHES
CLASS 5A RANKINGS
- Cedar Park, 6-1; . Lubbock Cooper, 9-0; 3. Amarillo, 2-1; 4. College Station, 8-2; 5. Wichita Falls Rider, 6-1; 6. Beaumont United, 4-0; 7. Boerne Champion, 6-0. 8. San Antonio Veterans Memorial, 5-3; 9. Humble Kingwood Park, 9-0; 10. Princeton, 10-0; 11. Mansfield Timberview, 6-3; 12. GEORGETOWN, 7-2. 13. Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial, 10-2; 14. Royse City, 6-2; 15. Mansfield Legacy,8-1. 16. Red Oak, 7-2. 17. Castroville Medina Valley, 8-2; 18. Grapevine, 7-2; 19. Leander Rouse, 7-2; 20. Bryan Rudder, 5-3; 21. Pflugerville Hendrickson, 6-2; 22. Richmond Foster, 7-2; 23. Wylie East, 8-2; 24. Lake Dallas, 6-4; 25. Midlothian, 6-3.
Note: Records provided by TABC.