‘These kids took me on a fun ride.’ Sachse girls beat Mansfield in final seconds
Sachse guard Crislyn Rose’s short banker as time expired completed a furious comeback by the Mustangs to down Mansfield 56-54 in a Class 6A area-round girls basketball game Tuesday night at Lewisville High School.
Rose grabbed the rebound on a missed Mansfield free throw with 16 seconds left, brought the ball up court, then drove down the right side of the lane and banked in the game winner just before the buzzer sounded.
After dispatching the fourth seed out of District 11-6A, Sachse (14-7) now gets to face the 11-6A champion in No. 2 DeSoto (23-2) in the regional quarterfinals. Sachse clinches a spot in the third round for the fourth straight season.
“I wish that one could have gone different,” said Mansfield coach Kenni Patton. “We just couldn’t really get in a good flow. Plus we couldn’t contain their penetration.”
The Tigers were making their first playoff appearance since 2012 and had earned their first playoff win since 2007 when they beat Harker Heights in bi-district.
Neither team had more than a four-point lead until early in the third quarter when Mansfield (18-7) went on a 16-0 run. Emily Holland scored all nine of her points during the spree on three 3-pointers to give the Tigers a 40-28 lead with 2:57 left in the third.
Sachse’s young team, which starts three freshmen and Rose (a sophomore), showed grit beyond its years chipping away at Mansfield’s lead and finally tying the game at 51 on the first of two made free throws by Rose with 2:12 left.
The Tigers trailed by three, but tied the game at 54 on a bucket by Kendyl Howell with 19 ticks left and a made free throw by Zarria Carter with 16 seconds remaining. But Carter missed the second freebie setting up Rose’s heroics.
“Special situations at the end, you can’t work on those enough,” said Patton. “I just wish it would have come out in our favor.”
Rose led all scorers with 22 points. Freshmen Londyn Oliphant (13 points), Neenah George (10) and Micah Cooper (8) paced the Mustangs.
“That team is young and they’re gonna be good,” said Patton. “A lot of credit to them, but defensively tonight we were just off.”
Carter, a senior, led the Tigers with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Aleksandra Clayton chipped in 14 points and Holland and Howell had nine points each.
Patton loses eight seniors off this team, five of which have been on the varsity since they were sophomores.
“This is a special group to me,” said Patton of her seniors. “They’ve grown a lot the past three years and I’m gonna miss the fire out of them. This is my first time as a head coach in the playoffs and these kids took me on a fun ride. It’s one I’ll never forget.”
