Georgetown’ Lady Eagles, opening and finishing strong, took another step toward their 28th consecutive state playoff berth with a 58-19 victory over Hutto on Wednesday night on the Hippos’ court.
The game was scheduled for Tuesday night, but was pushed back a day because of a forecast for freezing weather on the original playing date.
No matter the date, the Georgetown defense put the freeze on Hutto, allowing them just eight points in the first half and 11 in the second. The Lady Hippos, now 3-8 in district, managed just 20 shots from the floor, making only five amd none from beyond the arc. The Lady Eagles stole the ball 29 times and Hutto was guilty of 34 turnovers. No Lady Hippo scored more than four points.
At times, tt seemed the two teams were travelling in opposite directions at the same time on the court.
The victory improved GHS 19-5A record to 18-2 and their season mark to 18-7, leaving them well within striking distance of Cedar Park (11-0) and Rouse (10-1), which both also postred victories Wednesday night. The Timberwolves put another stake in the heart of Bastrop’s playoff hopes and Rouse dropped East View to 3-7. Both the Lady Eagles and Patriots already have taken their second-half byes.
Georgetown will try to take another step toward the playoffs and its 29th straight 20-win season at 7 p.m. Friday against Elgin (2-9 in district) at Eagle Gym. The Lady Eagles won the first meeting in Elgin, 65-17, on Dec. 8. Elgin is coming off a 53-40 loss to Bastrop Cedar Creek.
Friday night’s game will also feature a ceremony honoring Georgetown’s Class 5A state runners-up during the 2002-2003 season. A large number of the players from that 33-6 squad are expected to be on hand.
“I was very, very pleased,” GHS coach Rhonda Farney said of Wednesday’s effort. “Our goal is to continue to get better with each game. “We got off to a good start (a 12-2 first-quarter lead), but we didn’t play quite as well in the second and third quarters. We got it back together in the four quarter. One of our goals had been to get three consecutive stops and we did that several times tonight.”
To say GHS finished strong may have been a major understatement. Leading 35-14 after three quarters, the Lady Eagles opened the fourthperiod with 19 consecutive points, consisting of eight free throws without a miss, two 3-pointers by junior guard Ali Isbell and a trey and a bucket by junior guard Samari O’Brien.
Farney had special praise for senior guard Maddie Vickers and 6-foot junior post Jade Smith.
“Maddie was sick for along time, but she was well tonight and came back strong and Jade had a great game on defense and on the boards.”
Vickers had a game-high 13 points and seven steals, while Smith, who effectively plugged the middle on defense, had six of the Lady Eagles’ eight blocks and grabbed seven rebounds.
Junior forward Jaelyn Knight was Georgetown’s No. 2 scorer with 10 points and senior guard Josie Weirich and Isbell added eight and seven points, respectively. All nine GHS players scored.
The only low point for the Lady Eagles was a right-leg injury suffered by sophomore McCall Hampton which sidelined her for the remainder of the game. Immediately after the injury, her leg was taped above the knee, but after spending a sizeable portion of the second half with the athletic trainers, she exited the gym after the game with a large icepack on the injury. The severity of the injury was not known.
Georgetown won all three sub-varsity games at Hutto with one-sided victories.
The Freshman Blue, with Gracie Harris (16), Lauren Woodard (11) and Megan Herring (10) scoring in double digits, improved to 10-0 in 19-5A and 21-2 for the season with a 51-19 victory over Hutto.
Mercedes Robledo and Kylee Sander scored 20 and 13 points, respectively, in the JV’s 67-33 win that improved GHS to 9-1 in district and 21-2 on the year. Hailey Smith also had 10 points for the Lady Eagles.
The Freshman White also put three players in double figures — Reece Johnson (17), Maddie LaCour (11) and McKenna Johnson (10) — as they took a 49-21 win over Hutto. The White is now 3-0 in district with one game remaining and 10-3 on the year.
GHS NOTEBOOK: Dr. Bill Farney will miss Friday night’s activities as his 1974-1975 Class B girls state champioship Crawford team is being honored at the same time 72 miles to the north. In that state tournament at Gregory Gym on the Texas campus in Austin, Crawford beat Lamesa Klondike, 65-64, in the semifinals and Neches, 45-44, in the finals to claim that crown.
GEORGETOWN VS. HUTTO
At Hutto, Wednesday, Jan. 17
VARSITY
GEORGETOWN 58, HUTTO 19
GHS (58) — Ali Isbell 2-7 1-2 7, Josie Weirich 2-6 2-4 8, Samari O’Brien 2-6 0-0 5, Kylie Ellsworth 4-9 0-0 9, Mackenzy Mouton 0-1 1-2 1, Jaelyn Knight 5-6 0-0 10, Maddie Vickers 3-7 7-9 13, Jade Smith 0-3 3-4 3, McCall Hampton 1-1 0-2 2. Totals: 19-46 14-23 58.
HUTTO (19) — Caroline Meadows 0-0 2-3 2, Shyniaa Haynes-Wesley 0-1 0-0 0, Emma Jones 0-1 0-0 0, Tamryn Burks 1-6 1-2 3, Whitney Camero 0-1 0-0 0, Manuella Shomba 1-3 2-3 4, Klare Ware 0-0 0-0 0, Emlee West 1-2 0-1 2, Catherine Hosek 0-0 2-2 2, Shaydai Haynes-Wesley 0-1 0-1 0, Keyala Foster 1-2 2-2 4, Aspen Strobe 0-0 0-0 0, Dasha Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Mikayla Smith 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 5-20 9-14 19.
Halftime: GHS, 25-8. 3-point shoting: GHS 6-22 (Isbell 2-5, Weirich 2-5, O’Brien 1`-3, Ellsworth 1-5 Vickers 0-4); HHS 0-5 (Shy. Haynes-Wesley 0-1, Burks 0-2, Camero 0-1, Sha. Haynes-Wesley 0-1). Rebounds: GHS 26 (Smith 7, Knight 4, Weirich 3, Mouton 3, Vickers 3); HHS 25. Assists: GHS 14 (Ellsworth 5, Knight 2, Vickers 2, Smith 2). Steals: GHS 29 (Vickers 7, Weirich 6, Ellsworth 5, O’Brien 4, Knight 4). Blocks: GHS 8 (Smith 6, Isbell 1, Vickers 1). Turnovers: GHS 14, HHS 34. Total fouls: GHS 16, HHS 17. Fouled out: none. Technical fouls: none. Records: Georgetown, 8-2 in 19-5A, 18-8; Hutto, 3-8 in 19-5A, 8-23.
DISTRICT 19-5A RACE AT A GLANCE
(Through games of Jan. 17)
Standings: x-Cedar Park, 11-0; x-Rouse, 10-1; Georgetown, 8-2; Pflugerville Connally, 5-5; Bastrop, 4-7; East View, 3-7; Hutto, 3-8; Elgin, 2-9; Bastrop Cedar Creek, 2-9.
x — clinched playoff berth.
Wednesday’s results — Georgetown 58, Hutto 19; Rouse 46, East View 41; Cedar Park 58, Bastrop 43; Cedar Creek 53, Elgin 40. Bye: Connally.
Friday’s games — Elgin at Georgetown, 7 p.m.; East View at Cedar Park, 7 p.m.; Hutto at Pflugerville Connally, 7 p.m.; Bastrop at Cedar Creek, 7 p.m. Bye: Rouse.
Tuesday’s games — Georgetown at Bastrop, 7 p.m.; Cedar Park at Rouse, 7 p.m.; Connally at Elgin, 7 p.m.; Cedar Creek at East View. Bye: Elgin.
SUB-VARSITY GAMES
(GHS scoring only)
GHS JV 67, HUTTO JV 33 — A’Brielle Abrams 2, Kylee Sander 13, Hailey Hanson 5, Hailey Smith 10, Maya Perry 9, SueEllen Albrecht 0, Mercedes Robledo 20, Alicia King 8. Halftime: GHS, 36-19. GHS record: 9-1 in 19-5A, 21-2.
GHS FRESHMAN BLUE 51, HUTTO FRESHMEN A 19 — Graci Harris 16, Jordayn Stout 3, Vyctorya Lehr 5, Grace Kearney 2, Megan Herring 10, Lauren Woodard 11, Skylar Newugent 4. Halftime: GHS, 30-7. GHS record: 10-0 in 19-5A, 21-2.
GHS FRESHMAN WHITE 49, HUTTO FRESHMAN B 21 — Reece Johnson 17, McKenna Jansen 10, Cheyenne Garcia 2, Abigail Salinas 0, Leia Crissman 5, Maddie LaCour 11, Angel Rodriguez 4. Halftime: GHS, 18-8. GHS record: 3-0 in 19-5A, 10-3.
Source: Lady Eagles Basketball.
— By Galen Wellnicki