BY GALEN WELLNICKI
“We’ve played well down the stretch in our last three games,” said Georgetown head coach Rhonda Farney after the Lady Eagles downed the host school, 42-36, on Saturday in the consolation finals of the Eaton Invitational Tournament in Fort Worth.
And those efforts will allow the Lady Eagles to take a 3-2 record into Tuesday’s 7 p.m., battle with Pflugerville, the third-ranked 6A team in the state, in Eagle Gym. The Panthers will take a 6-0 record into the game with impressive victories over the likes of Vista Ridge, Cedar Park, Austin Westlake, Cibolo Steele and San Antonio O’Connor.
“It will be Fan and Sun City Appreciation Night,” Farney said. “And it will be a tough test for us, but we’re excited about the chance to play them. We’ve got that mind set now and our execution has improved (over what it was in losses to Waco Midway and Azle). We came out and played really well today.”
One of the major keys for the Lady Eagles has been defense. In its final three tournament starts, Georgetown has held Clebune, Paradise and Eaton to a combined shooting percentage of 27.8 from the floor (35 of 126).
Although it is a suburban school, Eaton appeared to do most of its shooting from downtown as 32 of its 41 shots were from beyond the arch with only 21 percent of its long-range attempts being successful.
In the Eaton contest, GHS led 18-14 at the half and 34-30 after three periods. The Lady Eagles outscored their Eagles namesakes, 8-6, in the final quarter to ice the victory.
Georgetown put three players in double figures with 5-foot-11 junior Jaelyn Knight scoring 11 on five-of-eight shooting from the floor and senior guard Josie Weirich and junior guaard Ali Isbell putting in 10 points each. Weirich and Isbell combined for all five GHS 3-pointers in the Lady Eagles’s 13 attempts. Knight was the team’s leading scored in the tournament with 43 points.
McCall Hampton, a 5-9 sophomore, continued to be a major contributer with seven points and nine rebounds. In the four tournament games, Hampton was credited with a team-high 39 rebounds, including two games in double figures.
The Lady Eagles played the last three games of the tournament with just eight active players with posts Emili Harris, a 5-11 senior, and Jade Smith, a 6-0 senior, out with health issues. Farney said that Smith may be back for the Pflugerville game, but Harris is not expected back before the Jack Frost Tournament on Nov. 30-Dec. 2.
In its first three games in the Eaton event, GHS lost to Azle, 33-26, and beat Cleburne, 55-40, and Paradise, 40-31.
The JV game with Pflugerville will precede the varsity game at 5:30 p.m. in Eagle Gym, while the Freshman Blue and White games will be played at 5 and 6:15 p.m., respectively, in the lower gym.
After playing Pflugerville, the Lady Eagles will play Burnet at 6 p.m. Friday at Eagle Gym. The sub-varsity teams will be in tournament action at East View on Thursday through Saturday. The JV and Freshman Blue will play on Thursday and Saturday and the Freshman White on Friday.
EATON INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT
At Fort Worth, Nov. 9-11
CONSOLATION CHAMPIONSHIP
GEORGETOWN 42, NORTHWEST EATON 36
GHS (42) — Ali Isbell 3-5 2-2 10, Josie Weirich 3-8 1-2 10, Samari OBrien 1-1 0-0 2, Kylie Ellsworth 0-2 2-2 2, Mackenzy Mouton 0-1 0-0 0, Jaelyn Knight 5-8 1-2 11, Maddie Vickers 0-2 0-0 0, McCall Hampton 2-8 3-4 7. Totals:
14-35 9-12 42.
EATON (36) — Nina Brown 4-9 0-0 10, Delana Gooden 1-6 3-4 5, Molly Gideon 3-12 2-3 10, Morgan Dodgen 0-2 0-0 0, Jacie Johnson 2-3 0-0 5, Kennedy Crites 2-9 0-0 6, Emily Taylor 0-0 0-0 0. Totals:
12-41 5-7 36.
Halftime: GHS, 18-14. 3-point shooting: GHS 5-13 (Isbell 2-3, Weirich 3-8, Ellsworth 0-1, Vickers 0-1); EHS 7-32 (Brown 2-7, Gooden 0-1, Gideon 2-11, Dodgen 0-2, Johnson 1-2, Crites 2-9). Rebounds: GHS 25 (Hampton 9, Isbell 4, Mouton 3). Assists: 19 (Hampton 4, Vickers 3, Isbell 3, Weirich 3). Steals: GHS 11 (Vickers 3, Isbell 2, O’Brien 2). Blocks: GHS 0. Turnovers: GHS 6. Total fouls: GHS 6, EHS 13. Fouled out: none. GHS record: Georgetown, 3-2.
