Late steal cinches Trimble Tech win over Granbury

by Jared L. Christopher

Special to the Star-Telegram

Fort Worth Trimble Tech sophomore guard Erin Backus came up with a huge steal with seconds to play, capping a seesaw finish as the Lady Bulldogs beat Granbury 43-41 Monday night.

The win moves Trimble Tech moves into first place in District 7-4A, breaking a three-way tie with Granbury and Aledo.

Lilley VanderZee, the Lady Pirates' 6-foot-3 post dominated the paint, scoring six points in the first four minutes of play.

Trimble Tech (25-5, 11-1 in District 7-4A) struggled to find an answer for VanderZee, committing 10 personal fouls, and trailing at halftime 24-15.

"[VanderZee] is such a great player," said Trimble Tech head coach Melanie Lane. "I knew we had to shut her down, so after the half we decided to put one girl behind her and one in front of her."

The Lady Bulldogs came out focused in the second half, notching six steals in the third quarter and tying the game heading to the fourth.

VanderZee scored 13 more points to finish with 25, but Granbury could do little else, scoring just four more points as a team in the second half.

Late in the fourth, Trimble Tech's Lakendra Bassett hit both ends of a one-and-one to put the Lady Bulldogs up by two points with 34 seconds remaining.

Granbury (19-12, 10-2) called a timeout and designed a play to get the ball to VanderZee one last time.

But Backus came up with her big steal to preserve the win for Trimble Tech.

"Erin is our sixth-man," said Lane. "She played great defense and really came up really big for us tonight."

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