Vista Ridge, Westlake roar into girls state playoffs with district titles
The UIL girls' basketball regular season wrapped up last week with several traditional champions and a few new faces making the playoffs. A momentous performance by St. Stephen’s at the Southwest Preparatory Conference tournament also highlighted the week.
In Class 6A, Vista Ridge won its ninth straight district championship while Westlake captured its first title in five years under second year head coach Vickie Benson. Norma Sierra guided her Hendrickson Hawks to their fourth straight Class 5A district title and notched a 53-1 four-year district record in what many thought was a rebuilding year at the Hawks campus. Carly Kehn coached McCallum to a repeat title in 24-5A while Glenn handed Liberty Hill its only two losses on a 33-2 season to win District 25-3A for the first time in school history.
Taylor repeated as 24-4A champion while Burnet edged Jarrell in 22-4A. Jarrell finished second after handing the first place Bulldogs their only district defeat in a game that marked the 400th coaching victory for Marlena Brown. In Class 2A, Thrall went whistle to horn posting a 12-0 district mark to win 27-2A.
Crockett returns to the playoffs after the Cougars beat Ann Richards at Burger Center in a Thursday night play-in game for fourth place. Freshman Lauren Smith scored 15 points and sophomore Aliyah Smith added 10 as veteran coach Jennifer Shuttlesworth led her Cougars to a winning district mark and playoff appearance. Crockett led 9-5 after a quarter then 17-14 at the half. The Cougars eased ahead 25-19 after three quarters then took control when the Smiths exploded in the fourth quarter as Crockett finished with a 16-4 run to claim the playoff berth.
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UIL bi-district playoffs began Monday night and finish Wednesday with second round action beginning Thursday. Traditional playoff teams filled spots, but there are some relative newcomers, including Juan Navarro and LASA. Returning to the playoffs was Vandegrift, who posted the biggest turnaround among local teams as Tiffany Litton led the Vipers from an 8-25 season last year to a 24-9 record in her first year as head coach.
A season to remember for St. Stephen's
At the Southwest Preparatory Conference tournament, St. Stephen’s Episcopal School finished with a flourish as the Spartans posted an 18-8 season record and finished third in the event, losing to eventual champion Fort Worth Country Day School in the semifinals 47-43. The Spartans won third place by beating Conroe John Cooper in the third-place game. Fort Worth Country Day beat Austin St. Andrew's 45-20 for the championship.
The Spartans season marked the best team finish since 2014, most wins since 2014, first time since 2014 a winning record against public school teams. The Spartans' record before this season was a combined 21-100 over the previous nine years.
On the court, the Spartans' semifinal loss was despite 27 points from Donnica Armstrong who added six rebounds and three steals. Kennedy Lartigue added 12 points with four rebounds, four steals and four deflections in the loss to Country Day. In the third-place victory, Armstrong scored 20 points, including six of nine from 3-point land while Lartigue scored 13 points with five steals, five deflections and three assists.
Around the area
In season ending wrap-ups, Glenn freshman Libby Lee scored 18 points to lead the Grizzlies past Liberty Hill 46-29 and secure the first district title in school history as a Class 5A competitor. Lee added five steals, four rebounds, two blocked shots and five assists while Soma Okolo had eight points with ten rebounds and four steals. Cindy Foka finished with eight points and seven boards while Mariah Houston had nine points. Gabby Mundy led the Panthers with 11 points while Ella Granda added six points and Evie Bruce had four.
Glenn finished first in 25-5A with Liberty Hill second. Cedar Park (22-11, 10-4) is third after beating Rouse 48-25 and Hays (25-11, 9-5) is fourth after beating Lehman 80-32.
Gianna Angiolet hit her 100th 3-point shot of the season while scoring 21 points and leading Westlake to its first district championship in five years as the Chaps beat Johnson 58-39. Bella Hesse added 11 points with three steals while Tamia King had 12 points and six boards. Kennedy Cannon finished with seven assists and five rebounds. Westlake won the title after co-leader Bowie lost to lake Travis 62-43 as Riley Moore scored 25 points and Claire Kolkhorst added 17 points for the Cavaliers. Bowie was led by Micah Walton's 17 points and got 11 from Grace Guzman.
Vista Ridge claimed the District 25-5A title by beating Manor 87-57 while Stony Point closed its season with a 44-41 win over Westwood. Cedar Ridge captured second place by beating Vandegrift 52-20 as Janiyah Alvarez scored 14 points while Devynn Davis added 13 points and Mikah Johnson chipped in nine points for the Raiders. Kelly Ufodiama added eight points and Zahra Hill chipped in seven in the win. The Vipers finished third in district play. Round Rock beat McNeil 51-43 to finish fourth in district. Avery Cashman led the Dragons with 19 points while Macie Upshaw added ten in the win.
Hendrickson improved to 53-1 over the past four seasons in district play with their fourth straight district crown by beating East View 42-32. Georgetown beat Cedar Creek 81-6 to finish second while Pflugerville got 14 points from Makenzie Salisbury and eight from Keke Wallace to beat Connally 56-27 and finish third in District 23-5A. K’Lyn McFrazier and Sidhania Nimchan added seven points each for the Panthers. Elgin beat Bastrop 50-39 in the other district game.
McCallum won 24-5A as the Knights beat Ann Richards 61-25. Juan Navarro was second after beating Eastside Early College 66-30 while LASA took third place. Crockett beat Northeast Early College 66-19.
Round Rock Christian got 25 points from Ava Zamora, 18 by Grace Jones and 12 from Mallory Owens as the Crusaders defeated Waco Reicher 61-17. St. Michael’s beat Savio 47-44 while Hyde Park beat Regents 49-14.
Burnet beat Lago Vista 59-20 to win 24-4A while Jarrell finished second by beating Lampasas 60-57. Taylor won 22-4A by beating Smithville 60-47. La Grange finished second after beating Manor New Tech 49-11. Giddings beat Caldwell 52-27 for third place and Smithville finished fourth.
Fab Fives
Class 6A
1. Vista Ridge 23-9
2. Westlake 25-5
3. Lake Travis 26-9
4. Cedar Ridge 20-9
5. Bowie 22-7
Class 5A
1. Glenn 31-2
2. Hendrickson 26-7
3. Liberty Hill 33-2
4. Georgetown 26-6
5. McCallum 23-10
Class 4A/others
1. Taylor 21-7
2. Burnet 27-8
3. St. Stephen’s School 18-8
4. Jarrell 22-11
5. La Grange 20-10
Vista Ridge top team for week
Team of the week: Vista Ridge. Vista Ridge captured its ninth straight district championship when the Rangers beat Manor 87-57. That victory marked a historic 300th coaching win for head coach Keith Allen and first assistant Megan Simoneau over the past 12 years. Allen and Simoneau coached as the boys and girls varsity coaches at Llano then coached three years at Stony Point where they led the Tigers to the regional tournament. Since moving to Vista Ridge, the pair have coached nine straight district championship teams.
Tuesday's playoff schedule
Class 6A
Bowie at Vandegrift, 7 p.m.
Class 5A
East View vs. McCallum at McNeil, 7 p.m.
Glenn vs. Smithson Valley at Lehman, 6 p.m.
Class 4A
Taylor vs. Houston Worthing at Bryan, 7 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: The UIL state girls basketball playoffs start this week around Austin
