Only this time, the Lady Eagles ran into an experienced Woodville squad just as resilient and just as scrappy that was able to hold off their customary charge.
Salado whittled a 16-point fourth-quarter deficit to three but couldn’t overtake No. 18-ranked Woodville in a 61-50 loss in a University Interscholastic League Class 2A state semifinal Friday morning at Frank Erwin Center.
In the past two games when the Lady Eagles were down eight to Vanderbilt Industrial and 13 to Weimar, they slowly crept closer before starting their winning rally early in the fourth quarter. But on Friday, Salado couldn’t mount that mini-burst and was too far behind when it finally did storm back.
“I’m not sure why it took us so long,” said Salado first-year coach Randy Henderson, who led Port Aransas to the 2007 Class A Division I state tournament. “I think part of it was most of the time we have four sophomores (Brennan Boydstun, Hadley Joiner, Billi Pipes and Jenna Sebek) out there and they were definitely nervous. All of the players did some things this morning that I hadn’t seen very much of. They were very nervous and I think it just took them a while to relax.
“Somehow we fought through that and were able to at least make a game of it and the girls did a good job coming back.”
District 25-2A champion Salado finished with a 27-10 record and advanced to its first state tournament since 1999 and third in school history. With four sophomore starters set to return next season, the Lady Eagles’ future looks very bright.
Woodville (32-4) won its 16th game in a row and advanced to today’s 2 p.m. championship game to face No. 8 Brock (31-8), which ended No. 2 Bowie’s 20-game winning streak with a 46-42 victory in the second semifinal.
“I’m very proud for the entire season,” Henderson said. “We started four sophomores. Between them and our three seniors - Kaylan Hearne, Abby Frazier and Danielle Hazzard - and our freshmen, I thought we played, especially in the regional tournament, way above our age. Now it didn’t show in the first half today, but there are a lot of teams that come through here and get a little shell-shocked.”
Salado trailed 47-31 with 5 minutes, 29 seconds left in the fourth quarter before utilizing a full-court press defense that sparked a 12-0 run.
Joiner recorded three steals as Woodville committed five turnovers on its next seven possessions. Those mistakes turned into easy points as Boydstun and Joiner hit two field goals apiece and Hazzard and Pipes each added one to bring the Lady Eagles within 47-43 with 2:34 left.
“A lot of times we have a strong fourth quarter,” said area girls scoring leader Joiner, who had a game-high 19 points and five steals. “We started coming back and making our shots and being smart.”
Said Hazzard about the sudden flurry: “When things started to go in, people started to have more confidence.”
Joiner’s three-point play made it 51-48 with 1:37 to go, but Woodville’s execution halted the spurt from there.
Arika McNeal (12 points, 12 rebounds) made the first attempt of a 1-and-1 free throw situation, then missed the second. Brooke Taylor (17 points, 10 rebounds) grabbed the offensive rebound and eventually added another free throw for a 53-48 lead.
After a Salado turnover, Samantha Gilder got free for a layup and a 55-48 lead with 1:03 to go, and Woodville hit four straight free throws to seal the win.
“They (Salado) were making a run,” said Woodville coach Danny Buchanan, whose team lost in the state semifinals last season. “I knew they would get it started. We knew they were a second-half team. We knew they’d come back.”
The Lady Eagles shot just 7-of-25 from the field in the first half and fell behind by as many at 15 points. Salado’s zone defense, which had worn down opponents for lengthy stretches during the postseason, was carefully disected by Woodville, which made 12 of 17 shots in the first 16 minutes.
“Woodville did a good job of being patient and finding the gaps and seams most teams don’t find,” said Henderson, whose team allowed 50 percent shooting for the game and tied a season-high by permitting 61 points.
Boydstun’s half-court heave at the halftime buzzer trimmed the margin to 30-18 and gave the Lady Eagles some much-needed momentum that carried into the second half.
Joiner hit a 10-footer and a 3-pointer and Salado forced two turnovers to make it 30-23. But the Lady Eagles missed their next six shots and Woodville went on an 8-0 run to push the lead back to 15.
“I think after they (Woodville) got that lead, we kind of got down on ourselves, but we started picking ourselves back up at halftime like we always do,” said Boystun who scored eight of her 15 points in the fourth before fouling out with 1:50 left. “After that we started rolling, but they got too far ahead and we couldn’t get back all the way.”
The gap remained in double digits until Salado made its final surge that fell just short.
“I’m very proud of them,” Henderson said. “They could have easily just hung their heads and assumed defeat, but we gave ourselves a chance. A play here, a play there, it could have been different."
cmeister@temple-telegram.com
