After the first four of 14 playing dates in District 18-5A girls basketball, including two open dates for each of the seven teams, nothing is certain unless uncertain can claim the same definition as its prefix-less root. True, the eighth-ranked Georgetown Lady Eagles stand atop the standings with a 3-0 record, but coach Rhonda Farney’s squad has had to fight in the closing minutes to produce five-point road victories over both Bastrop, 45-40, on Tuesday, Dec. 10, and Manor, 47-42, this past Tuesday. The Eagles had to really from a 36-28 deficit after three quarters to beat Bastrop and then had to survive a determined fourth-quarter rally by the Mustangs, who trailed by 16 entering the final period, to retain first place. Four district teams are tightly bunched at the top of the standings with Bastrop standing second at 3-1 and Hutto and East View tied for third at 2-1. Manor stands 1-3, but appears to have enough hot sauce and mustard to give any of the front-runners indigestion on any given night.
There are no super teams at this point. Hutto has beaten East View, which is ranked 25th in the state in 5A by the Texas Girls Coaches Association and Bastrop beat Hutto by five this past Tuesday at the Lady Hippos’ digs. The big game on Friday’s 18-5A agenda sends East View to Bastrop, while the Lady Eagles and Hutto are expected to add victories in 7 p.m. battles with Bastrop Cedar Creek (1-3) and Elgin (0-3), respectively. Georgetown will catch Cedar Creek in Eagle Gym and Hutto will invade Wildcat Country. For Georgetown, which stands 18-7 for the season, Friday’s contest also will mark Senior Night. The Lady Eagles, who have won six of their last seven starts, will be facing a Cedar Creek team that has won just seven of its 27 games, including its last two outings — a 64-27 drubbing of Austin Eastside Memorial and a 33-29 win over district rival Elgin this past Tuesday.
After playing Cedar Creek, defending champion Georgetown will face a key week in its efforts to repeat that accomplishment with road game at Hutto on Tuesday and at East View next Friday. The East View contest will be part of a boys-girls doubleheader. The way the district schedule is set up Georgetown plays four road games and two home games in the first round and four home games and two road games in the second round. “I’m just glad we won,” Farney said after the win at Manor that was plagued by poor shooting and ball handling by the Lady Eagles. “The ball was over-inflated and that had a major effect on the ball handling and to a lesser degree on the shooting.” Manor outscored Georgetown, 20-9 in the fourth quarter to turn what at one point appeared to be a one-sided win into a battle to gain the victory. Georgetown, which led by 15 points, with under seven minutes remaining, missed four free throws in the final 46 seconds and twice whiffed on the front end of one-and-ones. Back-to-back baskets by Ke’Asia Mathis pulled the Mustangs within striking distance at 46-40 with 1:15 to play. The Lady Eagles’ only point in the final three minutes was a free throw by Kylie Ellsworth with 21.8 seconds remaining in the contest.
Statistically, shooting was the biggest problem for the Lady Eagles as the made just 18 of 59 shots from the floor (31 percent), including only two makes in 16 3-point efforts, and 9 of 22 free throws (40 percent). Georgetown’s top three scorers only found the range on 11 of 38 attempts. Many of the Eagles’ misses came within six feet of the basket. Fortunately for GHS, Manor shot even worse from the floor — 14 of 56 (25 percent), including three of 17 beyond the arc. They were 11 of 17 from the line. With all the missed shots, GHS took a 45-36 rebounding edge with McCall Hampton grabbing 13 and Mackenzy Mouton adding nine. However, the Lady Eagles turned the ball over 16 times. Mouton led GHS scoring with 13 points and Hampton and guard Graci Harris added 11 and 10 points, respectively. Janiya Davis paced Manor with 12 points, while Titiana Dufort added 11 points and 16 rebounds.
Georgetown’s junior varsity and freshman teams also improved to 3-0 in district competition with one-sided victories over Manor. The Freshman Blue also improved to 19-0 on the season with a 57-9 win over the first-year Mustangs. Ainsley Pelzcar led the Blue with 18 points, while Madelyne Furr and Taylor Meyners added 12 and 10, respectively. With Shelia Lee putting in 15 and Jacqui Spencer and Morgan Larson each adding 12, the GHS JV took a 66-21 victory to improve to 13-6 on the season. Friday’s JV and freshman games with Cedar Creek are both scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
DISTRICT 18-5A RACE AT A GLANCE
(As of Tuesday, Jan. 7)
Standings: Georgetown, 3-0; Bastrop, 3-1; Hutto, 2-1; East View, 2-1; Manor, 1-3; Bastrop Cedar Creek, 1-3; Elgin, 0-3.
Tuesday (Dec. 10) results: Georgetown 45, Bastrop 40; East View 63, Manor 38; Hutto 82, Cedar Creek 29. Bye — Elgin.
Tuesday (Dec. 17) results: Georgetown 65, Elgin 44; East View 51, Cedar Creek 21; Bastrop 63, Manor 60. Bye — Hutto.
Thursday (Dec. 19) results: Bastrop 75, Cedar Creek 25.
Friday (Dec. 20) results: Hutto 45, East View 36; Manor 57, Elgin 37. Bye — Georgetown.
Tuesday’s results: Georgetown 47, Manor 42; Cedar Creek 33, Elgin 29; Bastrop 51, Hutto 46, 7p.m. Bye — East View.
Friday’s games: Cedar Creek at Georgetown, 7 p.m.; East View at Bastrop, 7 p.m.; Elgin at Hutto, 7 p.m. Bye — Manor.
TUESDAY’S DISTRICT 18-5A GAME
GEORGETOWN 47, MANOR 42
GHS (47) — Ella Vickers 0-1 0-0 0, Kylee Sander 2-4 0-0 4, Hailey Hanson 0-2 0-0 0, McCall Hampton 5-17 1-2 11, Kylie Ellsworth 3-14 3-10, Graci Harris 3-9 2-2 10, Mackenzy Mouton 5-6 3-8 13, Mercedes Robledo 0-2 0-0 0, Lauren Woodard 0-4 0-0 0, Nia Williams 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 18-60 9-22 47.
MANOR (42) — Keanna Gilbert-Walker 2-12 4-7 9, Ke’Asia Mathis 2-4 2-2 6, Titiana Duhart 4-10 3-5 11, Janiya Davis 4-15 2-2 12, Maya Means 0-0 0-0 0, Nicole Esonwune 0-3 0-0 0, Ariah Rivera-Clemente 0-2 0-0 0, Alaysia Prosser 2-10 0-1 4, Ravin Guyton 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 14-57 11-17 42.
Halftime: GHS, 24-15. 3-point scoring: GHS 2-16 (Vickers 0-1, Sander 0-1, Hanson 0-2, Ellsworth 0-4, Harris 2-6, Robledo 0-2); MHS 3-17 (Dufort 0-1, Davis 2-9, Rivera-Clemente 0-1, Gilbert 1-5, Prosser 0-1). Assists: GHS 15 (Ellsworth 5, Harris 5). Blocks: GHS 5 (Hampton 2, Mouton 2, Williams 1); MHS 0. Rebounds: GHS 46 (Hampton !6, Mouton 10, Harris 8); MHS 30 (Duhart 12, Davis 7, Mathis 6). Steals: GHS 15 (Mouton 4, Harris 3, Ellsworth 3); MHS 5. Turnovers: GHS 19; MHS 19. Total fouls: GHS 17, MHS 17. Fouled out: MHS, Davis. Technical fouls: none. Records: Georgetown, 3-0 in 18-5A, 18-7; Manor, 1-3 in 18-5A, complete record, na.
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TUESDAY’S SUB-VARSITY GAMES
At Manor
(GHS scoring only)
GEORGETOWN JV 66, MANOR JV 21 — Jacqui Spencer 12, Brooke White 0, Sam Folsom 6, Tanayah Smith 4, Talaya Roston 2, Morgan Larson 12, Shelia Lee 15, Brielle Maxwell 9, Vyctorya Lehr 4, Jordyn Stout 0. Halftime: GHS, 38-12. GHS record: 3-0 in 18-5A, 13-6.
GEORGETOWN FRESHMAN BLUE 57, MANOR FRESHMEN 9 — Erica Ramthun 6, Natalie Rivera 0, Avery Lopez 1, Jane Butler 4, Taylor Meyners 10, Amiya Gonzalez 6, Madelyne Furr 12, Abby Brent 0, Ainsley Pelczar 18. Halftime: GHS, 30-5. GHS record: 3-0 in 18-5A, 19-0.
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LADY EAGLES REMAINING GAMES
(Current record: 18-7 season, 3-0 district)
District 18-5A Games
Friday, Jan. 10 — Bastrop Cedar Creek (Senior Night), 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 14 — at Hutto, 7 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 17 — at East View, 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 21 — Bastrop, 7 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 24 — at Elgin, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 28 — OPEN DATE.
Friday, Jan. 31 — Manor, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 4 — at Bastrop Cedar Creek 7 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 7 — Hutto, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 11 — East View, 7:30 p.m.
Note: Both East View games are doubleheaders with the boys.
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TEXAS BASKETBALL COACHES ASSOCIATION
CLASS 5A RANKINGS
(Released Monday, Jan. 6)
- Amarillo (22-2). 2. Cedar Park (20-3). 3. Red Oak (16-6). 4. Corpus Christi Carroll (22-4). 5. Fort Bend Hightower (21-4). 6. Pearland Shadow Creek (19-4). 7. Boerne Champion (19-4). 8. GEORGETOWN (18-7). 9. Mansfield Timberview (15-8). 10. Denton Braswell (17-4). 11. Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial (20-6). 12. Wichita Falls Rider (21-1). 13. McKinney North (12-6). 14. Royse City (16-5). 15. San Antonio Veterans Memorial (17-7). 16. Kerrville Tivy (19-4). 17. Corpus Christi Tuloso-Midway (17-5). 18. College Station (18-5). 19. Bryan Rudder (21-2). 20. Mont Belvieu Barbers Hill (20-4). 21. Brownsville Veterans (20-5). 22. Frisco Liberty (10-9). 23. Lubbock Monterey (22-3). 24. Lake Dallas (15-4). 25. El Paso Eastwood (17-3).
Notes: Records supplied by TABC.
TEXAS GIRLS COACHES ASSOCIATION
CLASS 5A RANKINGS
(Released Tuesday, Jan. 7)
- Amarillo (22-2). 2. W ichita Falls Rider (18-1). 3. Bryan Rudder (22-2). 4. Cedar Park (20-3). 5. Fort Worth Arlington Heights (15-2). 6. Lubbock Monterey (22-3). 7. El Paso Eastwood (18-3). 8. Pearland Shadow Creek (19-4). 9. Mont Belvieu Barbers Hill (20-4). 10. Denton Braswell (17-4). 11. Red Oak (16-6). 12. Corpus Christi Carroll (22-4). 13. Fort Bend Hightower (21-4). 14. San Antonio Veterans Memorial (17-7). 15. Kerrville Tivy (14-4). 16. San Antonio Harlan (19-5). 17. GEORGETOWN (18-7). 18. Castroville Medina Valley (17-6). 19. Brownsville Veterans (19-5). 20. Dripping Springs (17-7). 21. Waller (15-3). 22. College Station A&M Consolidated (10-3). 23. Pflugerville Connally (17-9). 24. Boerne Champion (19-4). 25. (tie) Georgetown East View (17-4) and Magnolia West (19-6).
Notes: Records provided by TGCA.