Robert Lee 46, Neches 44
Paige Immel was a key spark on the bench for the Lady Steers as Kailey Freeman went down for an injury.
The senior post player scored the final seven points for Robert Lee in a key push for the Lady Steers, as they advanced to the state title game.
“She [Paige] has some misses sometimes but I told her today that she came in clutch,” Robert Lee head coach Brandye Wilson said. “She concentrated, got out there and helped us get over that hump to win this game.”
Neches used a run of their own prior to Immel coming on the court, as they rode a 7-2 run at the 3:19 mark and gave them a 34-29 lead.
Robert Lee closed the deficit down to one point to end the frame with a 5-0 run.
Neches took off early to a four point lead in the opening half of the final quarter until sophomore post Freeman went down with a knee injury as Immel got on court in the final stretch of the game and scored the final points that Robert Lee needed to claim the victory.
Freeman led all scorers with 15 points with Immel pitching in seven. Neches, who started three freshman in today’s game, were led by Sealy Hines with 14 points. Aubrey Kincade tallied 12 points, eight rebounds and five assists for the Lady Tigers.
Sands 56, Huckabay 29
The Sands defense stepped up in a huge way, forcing 32 turnovers and scoring 37 points off turnovers, 16 of which game in the third quarter off of 15 turnovers as they Lady Mustangs cruised to a 56-29 victory over Huckabay.
From the final moments of the second quarter, where Sands scored the final six points to the 5:23 mark in the fourth quarter, Sands rode a 33-1 run from the defense and held Huckabay to just one point in the third quarter.
“Sometimes, we go cold shooting and we are going to have to win the game with defense,” Sands head coach Ben Connell said. “That’s what great about these three [Landry Morrow, Lili Porras and Elysa Martinez] is a lot of times that teenager pout when they can’t knock down shots or miss layups. They focus on their defense and decided at halftime we are going to win with defense and calm down the nerves.”
The buzzer beater at the end of the first half from Lili Porras was they spark Sands got to win on the other end of the floor.
“It was a game-changer,” Morrow said, who led the team in scoring with 16 points alongside Porras. “It brought up the energy. At the beginning of the game, our adrenaline was through the roof and we had to remain calm and find ourselves.”
“Once Lili hit that, all of us were like ‘wow’,” Martinez said. “Once she hit that, we were hyping each other up and tell each other ‘good job’ and ‘great defense.’”
Huckabay only saw the lead in the last moments of the first quarter for 2:13, using a 11-0 run to get a three point lead from the help of Tiffany Meador, who finished with a game high 20 points.
Sands is looking to claim their first state title in program history while Robert Lee will be looking to end a title drought since 1978.
