Thursday, April 25, 2024
If Friday’s win over Dodd City in the Region III-1A semifinal was sweet vindication for the Lipan Lady Indians, Saturday’s win over Eula was pure relief.
Both wins at Mansfield Legacy High School - 48-35 over Dodd City, 42-34 over Eula - helped send the Lady Indians to the University Interscholastic League Class 1A state tournament this week in San Antonio. And the celebrations after both were emotional, albeit in different ways.
The win over Dodd City, ranked No. 2 in the state of Texas in the final poll, helped end some of the slights the No. 3 Lady Indians felt they were receiving in the rankings.
“It’s been noise all year long,” Lipan head coach Amber Branson said. “We try to tell the girls all year to ignore the noise, and especially the last month or so, because that’s all you hear about.
“It doesn’t mean a whole lot to me, because it’s a number on a piece of paper. But social media, with the way it is today, it’s out there a lot.”
The Lady Indians certainly started the semifinal like a team on a mission. Lipan scored 17 straight points to open the game and forced five Dodd City turnovers in the first minute and a half. Lady Indian junior Dally Coulter hit two three-pointers in the first quarter, and Lipan led 20-6 in the blink of an eye.
The Lady Indians were able to stick 6-3 Dodd City center Journie Hilliard with two fouls in the first 1:26 of game time, which Branson said was part of the game plan.
Dodd City snapped out of its slump in the second quarter, which Lipan lost 18-7. The Lady Indians’ lead was down to 27-24 entering halftime.
But Lipan held Dodd City scoreless in the third quarter until there was 2:14 left on the clock, and took a 36-31 lead into the fourth quarter.
Kaylee Little knocked down a huge three-pointer with 6:15 left to extend the lead to 39-33. Taylor Clark’s lone bucket of the game was a three-pointer with 2:30 left that gave the Lady Indians a 46-35 lead and quelled any chance of a Dodd City comeback.
Coulter led Lipan with 12 points, while Little and Maggie Peacock each scored 10. Little finished with six assists against just one turnover, and her poise at the point guard spot did not go unnoticed by Branson.
“I cannot brag on her enough this year,” Branson said. “She’s had to be a point guard since she was a freshman, and that’s a tough job, and she’s never been in control on the floor as a point guard should until this year.
“I’m not a very good cheerleader and bragger, but she has done a phenomenal job for us this year. Absolutely phenomenal.”
NOTHING EASY
The regional final against Eula did not start out as planned. Lipan was cold from the field early and trailed 14-7 after one quarter. The Lady Indians were getting good looks but couldn’t make anything.
“It was very frustrating,” Little said after the game. “None of our shots were going in.”
“They came out ready and prepared, they just couldn’t get anything to fall,” Branson said. “Sometimes there’s not much you can do about that except just keep getting after it, stay with it and hopefully they will (fall).”
After a long scoreless stretch for both teams to start the second quarter, Lipan’s luck flipped. Peacock hit five of six free throws to pull the Lady Indians with three, and then Little hit two three-pointers in two minutes, the second of which gave Lipan a 20-17 lead.
Perhaps the play of the game came at the end of the first half, when freshman Lynsey Little banked in a buzzer-beating three-pointer from the left wing.
“It was big,” her sister Kaylee said. “It gave us momentum.”
Branson said the Lady Indians try to win each quarter, and in the second half they accomplished that by getting stops on defense. Lipan led 36-26 heading into the fourth quarter, and held Eula to just four points in the final four minutes. The Lady Indians weren’t hitting their free throws late, but played good enough defense that it didn’t matter.
Peacock finished with a team-high 16 points. Kaylee Little had nine, Lynsey Little scored seven, Chelsea Lott, Dally Coulter and Marti Seymour all had three and Clark scored one.
Now Lipan will try to win its first girls title since 2016. The Lady Indians will play Chireno, the No. 20 team in the final poll, in the first semifinal game on Thursday at 8:30 a.m. at the Alamodome in San Antonio. The other semifinal is No. 1 Nazareth against No. 23 Veribest.
Lipan has played both teams in the other semifinal. The Lady Indians lost to Nazareth 50-42 at a neutral site and beat Veribest 54-19.
After the Eula game, as the Lady Indians hugged family and friends in the stands at Mansfield Legacy High School and senior captain Taylor Grove cradled the regional championship trophy, it was clear how much this playoff run and trip to state has meant to Branson and the Lady Indians.
“It’s exciting, and nervewracking,” Kaylee Little said.
“It’s pretty amazing,” Branson said. “They’ve worked real hard, and we came real close last year.
“They’ve set it in their minds, and it’s just pretty emotional right now.”
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UIL CLASS 1A GIRLS BASKETBALL
WHERE: Alamodome, San Antonio,Texas
SEMIFINAL NO.1: Lipan (33-3) v. Chireno (27-9); 8:30 a.m. Thursday
SEMIFINAL NO.2: Nazareth (29-8) v. Veri best (27-10); 10:30 a.m. Thursday
FINAL: Winner of Game 1 v.Winner of Game 2, 8:30 a.m. Saturday
