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Duncanville was too big, too fast and too deep for Southlake Carroll in their Class 5A Region I quarterfinal matchup Tuesday night at Wilkerson-Greines Activity Center.
The Pantherettes (36-1) led from start to finish en route to a 60-46 victory to advance to the Region I semifinals, where they will play Amarillo (28-6) at 8 p.m. Friday back at Wilkerson-Greines.
Duncanville sophomore Ariel Atkins led all scorers with 22 points. She was the only Pantherette to score in double figures and also grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.
"My teammates were feeding me the ball and they were counting on me to finish, so I finished," Atkins said. "We wanted to get a big lead and start off with a bang."
Atkins scored 10 points in the first quarter to help pace Duncanville to a 15-8 lead heading into the second quarter. The Lady Dragons (31-4) clawed back to within four points at halftime behind an 11-2 run spearheaded by a pair of three-point plays in the paint by junior forward Kate Lewis and a 3-pointer by Kami Mickens.
Duncanville padded its lead in the third quarter, only for Carroll to cut it back to a single possession again before the Pantherettes broke through with a 10-2 run to carry their biggest lead into the fourth quarter. The Dragons would get no closer than within eight points the rest of the way.
"We are always talking about keeping composure as a team," Atkins said. "So we just told each other to keep it together."
Junior post Antoina Robinson came off the bench to give Duncanville a lift with eight points, four rebounds and three blocks. Guards Empress Davenport and Morgan Bolton also added eight points apiece.
"I knew we had to have a strong enough lead heading into the fourth quarter because Carroll is a fourth-quarter team," Duncanville coach Cathy Self-Morgan said. "Our defense and getting out on the break is what we've done all year, and we were not doing either one of them in the first half. We did a much better job of both in the second half."
Jarret Johnson, 817-390-7760
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