Georgetown and Huntsville, a pair of teams with 23-9 season records, will collide in the bi-district round of the 128-team Class 5A girls basketball playoffs at 7 p.m. Monday, in the Hearne High School Gym.
  Coach Rhonda Farney’s Lady Eagles, making their 28th consecutive appearance in the state playoffs, completed their season with 57-30 victory at Bastrop Cedar Creek on Tuesday night to finish District 19-5A tied with Rouse for second place at 13-3.  In a coin flip to determine playoff seeding, GHS took the No. 2 spot and Rouse gained the No. 3 slot.
   Huntsville, the third-place campaigner in 20-5A with a 10-4 mark, finished off with a season highlight as it knocked Magnolia West out of the undisputed district lead with a come-from-behind 34-32 victory. The Hornets swept the season series with West and split its series with co-champion Tomball Memorial.
   “They will be a challenge for us with their length,” Farney said of Huntsville.
   The Georgetown-Huntsville winner is expected to meet 18-5A champion and heavily favored Temple (26-5 and 12-0 in district) in the second round of the playoffs on Thursday or Friday. The state’s eighth-ranked team will play either Lindale or Jacksonville, who tied for third place in 17-5A with 4-6 records in bi-district on Monday in Fairfield. Temple is coming off a 70-24 win over Bryan.
   The Lady Eagles, who have won eight of their last nine starts, got off to a slow start against Cedar Creek as they only scored five points in the first five minutes and eight seconds of the game, but took the lead for good at 11-9 with three seconds remaining in the first quarter on a bucket by junior post Jade Smith.
   Georgetown then cranked things up, building a 28-15 lead of the half as they outscored Cedar Creek, 13-2, during the final 4:24 of the second quarter.  Three-pointers by senior guard Josie Weirich, sophomore guard Kylie Ellsworth and junior guard Ali Isbell pushed the lead to 20 after three periods. The Lady Eagles led by as many as 30 points with 3:50 remaining in the game. GHS continued to sink 3-pointers in the fourth quarter as junior guard Samari O’Brien had two and senior Maddie Vickers added one.
   Vickers was a key figure for the Lady Eagles with a team and personal season high of 16 points. including nine of 10 at the free-throw lline. She also had seven rebounds and six steals.
    “It was our last district game and we wanted to step up and end it on a high,” Vickers said. “We started a little slow, but pulled together and got it going.”
   “Maddie played well and had her best all-around game of the season,” Farney said. “We got off to a slow start and may have been looking ahead a little, although we had talked about not doing that. Cedar Creek came out early and played with a lot of energy on their Senior Night. We settled in and started making our shots and playing good defense and that was the difference for us.”
    The GHS defensive effort  played a major role in Cedar Creek’s 23 turnovers. The Lady Eagles also were credited with 23 steals with every Georgetown player getting at least one.
  Farney was asked by a Bastrop reporter if she had substituted more than usual because the Lady Eagles playoff situation was basially locked up.”
   She answered, “No different than any other game. We wanted to win and we use a lot of substituting with our rotations.”
    While Vickers was having a big game, O’Brien was having a career scoring night with 10 points.
    senior Jaelyn Goodloe led Cedar Creek with 12 points, but GHS was able to hold senior Ashlan Smith to six points as both spent time in the metal chairs because of fouls. Georgetown junior forward Jaelyn Knight also was a victim of the official’s whistles, losing playing time because of a pair of fouls in the opening minute.
    Farney credited Cedar Creek’s big inside duo as being two of the best player in the district.
    The GHS Freshman Blue posted a 58-20 victory to claim the 19-5A freshman A title with a 15-1 mark.  They were 27-3 on the season. Guard Graci Harris dominated action with 28 points.
    The GHS JV claimed second in district with a 14-2 mark as they bombed Cedar Creek, 58-7, as they raced to a 30-2 first-half lead. Sophomore point guard Hailey Smith scored 15 points and Hailey Hanson and Mercedes Robledo added 12 and 11 points, respectively.  Junior post Alicia King and sophomore guard Kylee Sander each added seven points.
   The Freshman White, which had previously clinched the district freshman B title with a 4-0 mark, finished its season at 13-3 on  Saturday with 29-24 win over the Jarrell A. Reece Johnson led GHS with eight points.
    GHS NOTES — In addition to sophomores Hailey Smith and Mercedes Robledo and freshman Graci Harris, who have been listed on the varsity roster all season, Farney has brought up an additional four JV players to the varsity for the playoffs — sophomores Kylee Sander, Maya Perry and Hailey Hanson and junior Alicia King.
GEORGETOWN VS. BASTROP CEDAR CREEK
At Cedar Creek, Tuesday, Feb. 6
VARSITY
GEORGETOWN 57, CEDAR CREEK 30
  GHS (57) — Ali Isbell 1-4 0-0 3, Josie Weirich 1-4 1-2 4, Samari O’Brien 4-10 0-1 10, Kylie Ellsworth 2-10 2-4 8, Mackenzy Mouton 2-2 3-6 7, Jaelyn Knight 0-1 4-6 4, Maddie Vickers 3-6 9-10 16, Emili Harris 1-3 0-0 2, Jade Smith 1-3 1-2 3. Totals: 15-43 20-31 57.
  CC (30) — Jayla Kinney 1-5 0-0 2, Eternity Smith 2-3 0-2 4, Kaitlyn Samarippa 0-1 0-0 0, Hope Adams 0-1 0-1 0, Maria Tijerina 0-0 0-0 0, Aaliyah Ybarra 0-0 0-0 0, Jayla Gaines 2-5 0-0 4, Jaelyn Goodloe 5-10 1-5 12, Kiera Marlow 1-1 0-0 2, Ashlan Smith 3-7 0-0 6, Danyelle Adamez0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 14-35 1-8 30.
  Halftime: GHS, 28-15. 3-pointshooting: GHS 7-18 (Isbell 1-4, Weirich 1-4, O’Brien 2-3, Ellsworth 2-4, Vickers 1-3); CC 1-6 (Adams 0-1, Samarippa 0-1, Gaines 0-3, Goodloe 0-1). Rebounds: GHS 33 (Vickers 7, Smith 6, Mouton 6, Isbell 4, Harris 4); CC 30. Assists: GHS 10 (Ellsworth 2, Knight 2, Vickers 2). Steals: GHS 22 (Vickers 6, Ellsworth 4, Mouton 3). Blocks: GHS 2 (Smith 2); CC 3. Turnovers: GHS 11, CC 30. Total fouls: GHS 12, CC 22. Fouled out: none. Technical fouls: none. Records: GHS, 13-3 in 19-5A (TIED FOR SECOND), 23-9; Cedar Creek, 2-14 in 19-5A, 6-28.
DISTRICT 19-5A RACE AT A GLANCE
FINAL REGULAR-SEASON STANDINGS
(Through games of Feb. 6)
   Standings: xy-Cedar Park, 16-0; xz-Georgetown, 13-3; x-Rouse, 13-3; x-Pflugerville Connally, 8-8; East View, 7-9; Bastrop, 6-10; Hutto, 5-11; Elgin, 2-14; Bastrop Cedar Creek, 2-14.
   x — clinched playoff berth. y–clinched district championship. z –second seed as result of coin flip.
   Tuesday’s results — Georgetown 57, Cedar Creek 30; Cedar Park 70, Connally 44; Rouse 66, Hutto 35; East View 47, Elgin 46. Bye: Bastrop.
(End of regular season)
   District seeding playoff (No. 1, No. 2) — Magnolia West at Tomnall Memorial, 6 p.m. Friday, Tomnall Memorial.
Bi-District Schedule
District 19-5A vs. 20-5A
Cedar Park (1) vs. Willis (4),  7 p.m. Tuesday, Bryan High School.
Georgetown (2) vs. Huntsville (3), 7 p.m. Monday, Hearne High School.
Rouse (3) vs. Tomball Memorial or Magnolia West (2), TBA.
Connally (4) vs. Magnolia West or Tomball Memorial (1), TBA.
AROUND THE REGION
 FINAL REGULAR SEASON
(Through games of Feb. 6)
Standings
  District 20-5A — x-Magnolia West, 11-3; x-Tomball, Memorial, 11-3; x-Huntsville, 10-4; x-Willis, 8-6; Waller, 5-9; Tomball. 5-9; Magnolia, 5-9; Brenham, 1-13.
   x — clinched playoff berth.
   Tuesday’s results — Huntsville 34, Magnolia West 32; Tomball Memorial 56, Tomball 27; Willis 60, Waller, 47; Magnolia 51,  Brenham 35.
(End of regular season)
***
   District 18-5A — x-Temple, 12-0; x-Bryan Rudder, 9-3; x-Waco University, 8-4; x-College Station, 5-7; College Station A&M Consolidated, 4-8; Waco, 4-8; Bryan, 0-12.
  x-clinched playoff berth.
   Tuesday’s results — Temple 70, Bryan 24; Bryan Rudder 54, A&M Consolidated 44; University 67, Waco 60. Bye: College Station.
(End of regular season)
Bi-District Schedule
Temple (1) vs. Jacksonville or Lindale (4), 6 p.m. Monday, Fairfield.
Bryan Rudder (2) vs. Jacksonville or Lindale (3), TBA
Waco University (3) vs. Nacogdoches (2), TBA
College Station (4) v. Ennis (1), TBA.
***
  District 17-5A — x- Ennis, 10-0; x- Nacogdoches, 8-2; x-Jacksonville, 4-6; x-Lindale, 4-6; Corsicana, 3-7, Whitehouse, 1-9.
  x– clinched playoff berth.
   Friday’s previously unreported score — Lindale 47, Whitehouse 22.
   Tuesday’s results — Ennis 60, Jacksonville 22; Nacogdoches 57, Lindale 39; Corsicana 38, Whitehouse 37.
(End of regular season)
SUB-VARSITY GAMES
(GHS scoring only)
Tuesday’s games
  GHS JV 58, CEDAR CREEK JV 7 — A’Brielle Abrams 4, Kylee Sander 7, Hailey Hudson 12, Hailey Smith 15, Maya Perry 2, Mercedes Robledo 11, SueEllen Albrecht 0, Alicia King 7. Halftime: GHS 30-2. GHS record: 14-2 in District 19-5A (DISTRICT RUNNERS-UP); 27-3.
   GHS FRESHMAN BLUE 58, CEDAR CREEK FRESHMAN 20 — Meagan Wolfe 2, Graci Harris 28, Jordayn Stout 8, Lizette Rodriguez 0, Vyctrya Lehr 2, Grace Kearney 4, Megan Herring 2, Laure Woodard 4, Cheyenne Garcia 4, Abigail Salinas 0, Skylar Neugent 4. Halftime: GHS, 25-11. GHS record: 15-1 in District 19-5A (DISTRICT CHAMPIONS), 28-2.
Saturday’s game
  GHS FRESHMAN WHITE 29, JARRELL FRESHMAN A 24 — Reece Johnson 8, Lizette Rodriguez 4, Cheyenne Garcia 6, Leia Crissman 4, Maddie LaCour 5, Natalie Hutchens 2. Halftime: JHS, 12-11. GHS record: 4-0 in 19-5A (District freshman B champions); 13-3.
   Source: Lady Eagles Basketball.
  — By GALEN WELLNICKI