Monday, May 6, 2024
ALL-DISTRICT: All the members of this smiling trio were named to the 5-5A All-District teams with (L-R) Alexa Mueller and Ella Garner selected to the second team. Ella Hamlin was named the league's Most Valuable Player.
ELLA HAMLIN: Hamlin was Granbury's leading scorer and rebounder.
NINA PARKER: Parker was valuable in the paint as a rebounder and the GHS's lowest turnover rate.
ASHLEY TORRES: It was inspiring to see Ashley Torres return to the lineup with a broken hand.
ELLA GARNER: Garner hate's how her "war face" looks but she's scary-good as a hoopster.
ALEXA MUELLER: Mueller handed out 85 assists and took a team-high 23 charges.
MADISON BLACK: Black has shown a willingness to battle for the basketball.
STERLING DUNAGAN: Granbury's freshman post is a battler.
DEFENSE: Ella Garner and Sterling Dunagan protect Granbury's turf.
After their best season in 11 years, seven Granbury Lady Pirates were named to the All-District 5-5A basketball teams, including Ella Hamlin as the league's Most Valuable Offensive Player of the Year.
Hamlin, a junior, was the Lady Pirates' go-to-player this season, and she responded to lead Granbury in scoring (18.6), rebounding (193), 3-pointers (61) and free throws (109 77.9%).
Granbury compiled a 22-14 record and went 5-5 in district play for a third-place finish, and seniors Nina Parker and Ashley Torres' efforts earned them first-team selections.
Parker averaged 9.2 pointers per game, but GHS depended on her efforts on the inside as a rebounder, and she came through with 163 boards. Parker was stingy with the ball sporting the team's lowest turnover rate at 13.1 percent, and she led the team in field goal percentage with a stellar 58.3 percent shooting average. Her 14 blocks were also a team-high.
Torres was the team's most inspirational player after a broken hand sidelined her for seven games, and she played the last part of the season with her hand in a brace. The senior point guard dished out a team-high 87 assists and led the Lady Pirates from behind the arc in shooting percentage, hitting the long ball at a 36.4 percent rate.
District second-teamers Ella Garner and Alex Mueller have two different defensive styles that were equally effective for Granbury this year.
Garner led Granbury in steals with 80 takeaways and 75 deflections. Offensively, the junior was third in scoring with an average of 8.6 points, and her 32.7 percent three-point shooting ranked second for the Lady Pirates.
Mueller was Granbury's dynamo on defense and, despite being the team's shortest player, took a team-high 23 charges, captured 51 steals, and was third on the team in deflections. On offense, Mueller contributed 85 assists (2nd), with 67 boards.
Granbury got two honorable mentions on the roster with sophomore Madison Black and Sterling Dunagan's selections.
Black came on strong in the second half of the season for Granbury despite also playing for the Lady Pirates' soccer team. Occasionally showing up just before tipoff or later wasn't out of the question, but Black still managed to record GHS's second-highest free-throw percentage (78), pulled down 58 rebounds, dished out 63 assists, and was a hard scrapper on the floor fighting for the ball on defense.
Being a freshman on a Thorpe-coached varsity team already tells people Dunagan is exceptional, and the first-year player snagged 87 rebounds and hard GHS's lowest turnover percentage at 22.9 percent.
Russell@hcnews.com | 817-573-7066 ext. 231
