Thursday, April 25, 2024
Before this week, the Lipan Lady Indians had just one obstacle left in the way of an undefeated District 19-1A season.
But it was an obstacle they’d maneuvered around before, and they did so again Tuesday. Lipan, the No. 3 team in Class 1A, beat No. 7 Huckabay 54-43 in Huckabay’s tiny, packed-out gym to finish 29-3 overall and 12-0 in district to earn the top playoff seed.
This is the last time for at least two years that Lipan and Huckabay will be district opponents, as Lipan will be a Class 2A team beginning next year.
“It’s a fun atmosphere – so small and so packed. I’m gonna miss that,” said Lipan head coach Amber Branson. “I like (Huckabay coach Caleb) Walls a lot, and his program.
“They play hard and they’ve got good players.”
Lipan jumped out to a 14-6 lead in the first quarter and held a 28-22 lead at the half. Huckabay made it a onepossession game in the third quarter and cut Lipan’s lead to 33-30 heading into the fourth, but Lipan scored 21 points in the final eight minutes to put the game away.
“We jumped out pretty quick,” Branson said. “It was a battle.”
“We’ve tried to stress this to the girls every year, but this year we have so many players that it takes all of us. We have a very good team.”
That balance, which Branson has relied on all year, showed in the stat sheet. Maggie Peacock led with 13 points, while Dally Coulter came through with 12 points and nine rebounds. Freshman Chelsea Lott buried two fourth-quarter threes and finished with nine points.
Lynsey Little had seven points and a team–high five steals. Marti Seymour had a key steal and added three points, Taylor Clark scored five, Kaylee Little had three and Taylor Grove added two.
Branson credited Grove for hustling for several loose balls and rebounds.
LOOKING AHEAD
Lipan will receive a bye in the first round, and won’t know its potential opponents until this weekend. No. 23 May and No. 16 Brookesmith were tied for first place in District 18-1A, and the loser of their tiebreaker will play the third place team out of District 17-1A, which is either Cherokee or Jonesboro.
Lipan gets the winner of that game next weekend.
Down the road, No. 2 Dodd City looms large in Region III-1A.
“Our region’s pretty tough,” Branson said.
All year, the Lady Indians have worked on maintaining competitive intensity. Branson said her team has improved in that regard throughout the season.
“They feed off each other,” she said. “It’s hard this year for you not to play hard, because you know we have someone that’s going to be playing hard every night.”
| POSSIBLE AREA ROUND OPPONENTS
MAY: No. 23 Class 1A
BROOKSMITH: No. 16 Class 1A
CHEROKEE/JONESBORO: Tied for second in District 17-1A
