Thursday, April 25, 2024
DOWN AND DIRTY: Alexa Mueller gets down and dirty to gain possession of the ball.
TEACHER APPRECIATION: The Lady Pirates honored their teachers Tuesday before game time. Coach Sonny Galindo was Lacy Criswell's guest.
ALL SMILES: Alexa Mueller honored her teacher Tammy Bodine.
EXTRA EFFORT: Ella Garner (21) and Averie Coffman work together to come up with a rebound.
OUCH: A defender crashes a forearm into Ella Hamlin’s throat.
Granbury fired on all cylinders as all the Lady Pirates contributed to the point total in a 73-22 beatdown of Wichita Falls High School Tuesday at the James Wann Sports Center.
It was a game GHS (18-10, 2-2) needed to put in the win column after losses to Wichita Falls Rider and Fort Worth Brewer have the Lady Pirates currently in third place in District 5-5A.
It’s been a topsy-turvy start in district play, filled with twists. Granbury beat Aledo, Aledo topped Azle, Azle has beaten Brewer, Granbury lost to Brewer, and the standings look like they have gone through a blender.
Everyone has at least one league loss, and what looked like a four-team race for playoff berths now includes five teams.
It’s that oh-so-close situation that has GHS head coach Alan Thorpe demanding the most out of his team. Despite a 51-point win, he wasn’t overly happy.
“They are driving around our backside, and we are just standing around, not getting over there,” Thorpe said. “It’s been kind of an issue lately, and we are trying to fix it.”
Granbury got off to its hottest start of the season against the Lady Coyotes and ripped off a 19-2 first-quarter run fueled by Madison Black, Averie Coffman, Ella Garner and Alex Mueller.
Black notched seven of her 11 points in the opening minutes, while Coffman had six of her nine.
Ella Hamlin, Nina Parker, Lacy Criswell, Sterling Dunagan and Kinzley Allen kept up the damage as Thorpe freely rotated his players on and off the court.
There was a new wrinkle here and there on defense.
“We ran some 2-3 stuff that we haven’t run all year. We wanted to work on that and a little bit of press. I thought overall the girls did a pretty good job,” Thorpe said.
That’s not to say that Thorpe was all smiles in the fourth quarter, where the Lady Coyotes managed to ring up half of their night’s point total by nipping at the Lady Pirates’ heels.
The game also showed that GHS still has some work to do on the perimeter.
“Our outside defense still needs work,” Thorpe said. “There have been some times where we are absolutely great at it. Then there are times when we are late, and you can’t do that on your outside – not the way we play defense.”
Offensively, GHS had no problems — with five players in double figures, and the 22 points evenly split between Black and Coffman is some new and welcome firepower coming out of the Lady Pirates’ fold.
With the first half of district play almost in the rearview mirror, Thorpe hasn’t changed his mind about how close this year’s playoff chase will end up being.
“Azle and Brewer are very beatable, but at the same time, either one of them can beat you, too,” Thorpe said. “You turn it around, and it’s the same thing for us.”
Against the Lady Coyotes, Hamlin’s 15 points led the way, followed by Garner with 13, Parker 12, Black 11, Coffman 11, Allen 4, Dunagan 4, Mueller 3, Criswell 2.
Russell@hcnews.com | 817-573-7066 ext. 231
