FW Western Hills girls top FW Dunbar for 6-4A crown
By: By Jarret Johnson
Fort Worth Western Hills proved it's the best girls basketball team in Fort Worth with an emotional 66-61 victory over nemesis Fort Worth Dunbar at home Tuesday night in the regular-season finale.
The win gave the Lady Cougars (26-6 overall, 17-1 District 6-4A) their first outright district title since the 1980s, the top playoff seed from District 6-4A and city bragging rights. A loss would have dropped them into a three-team tie for first with Dunbar (17-13, 15-3) and Fort Worth Trimble Tech (22-10, 16-2).
"I am extremely proud of these young ladies," Western Hills coach Marron McWilliams said. "This is a great reward for those ladies, to be a district champion this year and to see themselves have one of the best seasons this school's ever had."
Western Hills jumped out to a 22-11 lead after the first quarter, capped by a 3-pointer at the buzzer by Crystal Jones, who finished with a team-high 21 points.
Janai Swan (13 points), Deza Ashton (12) and Taylor Whiteside (11) also helped push Western Hills over the top.
The Lady Wildcats chipped away at the lead in the second and third quarters and took a 40-38 lead into the fourth quarter behind the stellar play of point guard Taylor Dorsey, who finished with a game-high 32 points.
The Lady Cougars opened up the fourth quarter on a 11-0 run, though, highlighted by a four-point play by Jones, who was fouled while connecting on a 3-point attempt. Dunbar cut the lead to as little as five in the final 30 seconds, but Western Hills made nine free throws in the final two minutes to win.
The loss dropped the Lady Wildcats, who hadn't lost a district game in over six years heading into this season, to third place in District 6-4A.
"This is the best feeling ever," Jones said. "I love my teammates and I just want to say that it was just a lot of hard work all the time and now it's on to the playoffs."