UIL Girls Basketball Playoffs: Here's how Bishop and West Oso fared in the regional semifinals
KINGSVILLE — Bishop and West Oso were aware of the challenge the Region IV-4A tournament presented with state-ranked Boerne and Fredericksburg standing in the way of the two Coastal Bend teams keeping their seasons alive and advancing to Saturday's regional final.
The Badgers could not have asked for a better start after jumping out to a 16-7 lead and going toe-to-toe with the Billies for most of Friday's contest.
But a 30-15 run by Fredericksburg in the second half proved to be the difference as the Billies rallied from behind to grab the lead late and secure a 53-45 win at the Steinke Physical Education Center.
The Billies advanced back to Saturday's regional final to play Boerne, a 60-36 winner against West Oso.
Bishop's impressive 2024 season came to a close in the regional semifinals for the second consecutive season.
"After the last win, the girls did their homework and they were coachable," Bishop coach Sherry Luna said. "What else could we have asked for? They left it all on the court and I'm just one proud coach. The girls are hungry and they're already talking about their goals for next year. We have a program and Lady Badger basketball is back on the map. These girls want to continue to grow its success."
It was the fifth consecutive season Bishop was playing in the regional tournament after advancing to the UIL state tournament twice in the last four seasons as a Class 3A team.
The Badgers will return to Class 3A next season under the district’s realignment and will return eight players from this year’s team and depart with six seniors.
Javelina women’s basketball commit Logan Borchardt led the Badgers with a team-best 15 points in her final high school game and on her future home court.
"We came in this year wanting to push ourselves even more," Borchardt said. "We fought, but unfortunately, we fell short. I'm just so grateful for the girls and this opportunity."
Leah Gutierrez added 12 points and Ava Salinas scored 10 to pace Bishop's offense. Kristen Hartman finished with a game-best 18 points, including nine in the second half to lead Fredericksburg in their comeback.
"It's been really inspiring," Gutierrez said of Bishop's success. "We knew we had to do work just to be district champions again and to do more. I'm really excited about our future because we have a great team."
West Oso's season ends with loss to Boerne
West Oso could not get into a rhythm from the start during Saturday's regional semifinal against Boerne and the end result was a 60-36 season-ending loss to the Greyhounds at the Steinke Physical Education Center.
Boerne never trailed and led by as many as 30 points as they advanced back to the Region IV-4A final to play Fredericksburg.
The Bears best stretch of play came in the second half, especially in the fourth quarter where they outscored the Greyhounds 17-11.
"Getting down by almost 30 in the first half, all I wanted my team to do was work," West Oso coach Quincy Sims said. "To show the people that showed up that we play hard and with effort. That's what they did in the second half. They came out and played hard as a team."
West Oso, which won an undefeated district championship in District 30-4A, had its 12-game winning streak snapped to finish the season at 29-8.
Sims said playing a tougher non-district schedule and facing Boerne in the regional tournament will only help the players iprove as they move to Class 3A next season.
Sims’ squad returns 11 players next season, including Malaigha Sweats and Jae'la Hicks, who combined for 16 points against Boerne. Averi Aaron led all scorers with 26 points to lead the Greyhounds.
"It definitely helped us out," Sims said of playing harder competition. "We started out season with some great competition in the valley and we made our schedule just for this right here. We knew Boerne was going to be here so we had to put some hard teams on our schedule. We're excited for next season.
More: Coastal Bend girls high school basketball playoff scores, schedules
This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Bishop, West Oso girls basketball fall in regional semifinals
