Georgetown coach Rhonda Farney was not pleased with the performance of her Lady Eagles in their 52-42 road loss to Cedar Park Wednesday night — a defeat that dropped them to 5-2 and third place in the District 19-5A race.
Frankly, the performance — especially in the first half — did not approach minimum Lady Eagles standards.
“We did not shoot well from the perimeter in the first half and we missed too many free throws (throughout the game),” Farney said in a game in which her team also passed up too many open-shot opportunities, threw the ball away too often, had too many layups fail to go down and gave the Timberwolves too many open 3-point looks early in the contest.
As a result, Cedar Park improved to 7-0 in 19-5A with one game remaining in the first half of the 16-game double-round-robin schedule. Rouse, a 64-44 winner over Pflugerville Connally, held second place at 6-1. Connally was in fourth place at 4-3, a half-game ahead of Bastrop which completed its first half in the nine-team district with a 57-42 win over struggling Elgin.
The Lady Eagles, now 15-8 for the season, will close out the first half of the 19-5A race at 12:30 p.m. Saturday when they entertain Bastrop Cedar Creek (1-6) at Eagle Gym. The day will open with JV and Freshman Blue games at 11 a.m. After playing Cedar Creek, Georgetown will have the bye in the opening round of the second half on Tuesday.
Many Lady Eagles fans pointed toward what they felt was one-sided officiating during the early and middle stages of the game, but the basic fault was Georgetown’s failure to execute at a higher level. The final foul count was GHS 18, CP 16.
Statistically, GHS shot 51 percent from the floor (17 of 33), but only two of those makes in seven efforts were from beyond the arch. The Timberwolves, who have traditionally made 3-pointers a basic weapon in their arsenal, made six of 15 from long range — a 12-point margin over the Lady Eagles. All six of their treys came in the first half as Georgetown tightened the outside defensive screws in the second half.
Cedar Park finished with a shooting percentage of 55 percent from the floor (20 of 36).
Neither team would have won a traditional hoop shoot at the line. GHS was six of 14 and the Timberwolves were six of 18. Also, the Lady Eagles turned the ball over 18 times.
Using a pair of 3-pointer in the final two minutes, Cedar Park constructed a 14-4 lead during the initial quarter. Four more treys helped the Timberwolves, 18-7 on the year, mount a 32-15 halftime lead, leaving GHS with a good-sized mountain to overcome in the second half.
The Lady Eagles could come no closer than 10 points three times in the second half before slicing the Cedar Park lead to nine points at 51-42 when junior Jaelyn Knight hit a 3-pointer with 14 seconds remaining. Knight finished as the game’s high scorer with 19 points, making eight of her 14 attempts from the floor.
Senior guard Maddie Vickers and sophomore forward McCall Hampton added eight points each as three players provided 83 percent of their team’s scoring and 27 of its 33 shot attempts.
The 5-foot-10 Hampton topped the rebounding chart with eight boards and 6-0 junior Jade Smith added five, while Knight and Vickers chipped in four each. Smith also had three assists and three steals. Vickers had a team high four steals.
Junior Alex Maresca led CP with 11 points and senior Jordan Ott, daughter of first-year Timberwolves head coach Donny Ott, and 6-0 sophomore Nicole Leff had 10 points each.
The Lady Eagles were without the services of sophomore post Mackenzy Mouton because of illness.
In a battle of unbeaten JVs, Cedar Park bested GHS, 39-25, to take the district lead at 7-0. The Lady Eagles, now 6-1 in district, played without starting point guard Hailey Smith because of a health issue. Sophomore Mercedes Robledo led Georgetown with 11 points in a contest that had the the Timberwolves jumping to a 12-0 lead in the opening three minutes and 17 seconds.
The GHS Freshman Blue rallied from behind in the closing minutes to claim a 24-22 win to remain unbeaten in district play at 7-0. Guard Graci Harris led GHS with 13 points.
Georgetown’s Freshman White team was scheduled to play a road game with Copperas Cove on Thursday.
GEORGETOWN VS. CEDAR PARK
At Cedar Park, Wednesday, Jan. 3
VARSITY
CEDAR PARK 52, GEORGETOWN 42
GHS (42) — Ali Isbell 0-2 1-2 1, Josie Weirich 1-2 0-0 3, Kylie Ellsworth 0-0 0-0 0, Jaelyn Knight 8-14 2-3 19, Maddie Vickers 3-7 2-2 8, Jade Smith 1-2 1-2 3, McCall Hampton 4-6 0-5 8. Totals: 17-33 6-14 42.
CEDAR PARK (52) — Jordan Ott 3-5 2-2 10, Pujita Shukla 1-3 0-2 2, Alex Maresca 4-6 3-8 11, Kilee West 1-4 0-1 3, Annie Callahan 2-2 0-0 4, Kimberly Hopsson 0-1 0-0 0, Takara Hoist 1-1 0-0 3, Callie Copeland 3-7 1-2 9, Nicole Leff 5-7 0-3 10. Totals: 20-36 6-18 52.
Halftime: CP, 32-15. 3-point shooting: GHS 2-7 (Weirich 1-2, Knight 1-4, Vickers 0-1); CP 6-15 (Ott 2-3, Shukla 0-2, West 1-3, Hopson 0-1, Hoist 1-1, Copeland 2-5). Rebounds: GHS 26 (Hampton 8, Smith 5, Knight 4, Vickers 4). Assists: GHS 13 (Isbell 3, Smith 3, Knight 3). Steals: GHS 12 (Vickers 4, Smith 3). Blocks: GHS 5 (Knight 2, Hampton 2, Smith 1). Turnovers: GHS 18. Total fouls: GHS 18, CP 16. Fouled out: GHS, Smith (fourth, 1:40). Technical fouls: none. Records: Georgetown, 5-2 in 19-5A, 15-8; Cedar Park, 7-0 in 19-5A, 18-7.
DISTRICT 19-5A RACE AT A GLANCE
(Through games of Jan. 3)
Standings: Cedar Park, 7-0; Rouse, 6-1; Georgetown, 5-2; Pflugerville Connally, 4-3; Bastrop, 4-4; East View, 2-5; Hutto, 2-5; Elgin, 1-6; Bastrop Cedar Creek, 1-6.
Wednesday’s results — Cedar Park 52, Georgetown 42; Rouse 64, Connally 44; East View 46, Hutto 38; Bastrop 57, Elgin 42. Bye: Cedar Creek.
Saturday’s games — Cedar Creek at Georgetown, 12:30 p.m.; East View at Elgin, 12:30 p.m.; Cedar Park at Connally, 12:30 p.m.; Rouse at Hutto, 7:30 p.m. Bye: Bastrop.
(End ot the first round)
Tuesday’s games — Hutto at Cedar Park, 7 p.m.; Elgin at Rouse, 7 p.m.; Bastrop at East View, 7 p.m.; Connally at Cedar Creek, 7 p.m. Bye: Georgetown.
SUB-VARSITY
(GHS scoring only)
CEDAR PARK JV 39, GHS JV 25 — Kylee Sander 8, Hailey Hanson 0, Maya Perry 1, Mercedes Robledo 11, SueEllen Albrecht 0, Kieana San Miguel 5, Alicia King 0. Halftime: CP, 27-17. GHS record, 6-1 in 19-5A, 17-2.
GHS FRESHMAN BLUE 24, CEDAR PARK FRESHMAN 22 — Graci Harris 13, Reece Johnson 0, Jordayn Stout 2, Vyctorya Lehr 4, Grace Kearney 0, Megan Herring 3, Lauren Woodard 0, Cheyenne Garcia 0, Skylar Neugent 2. Halftime: CP, 18-12. GHS record: 7-0 in 19-5A, 17-2.
Source: Lady Eagles Basketball.
— By GALEN WELLNICKI