Carroll made sure there wasn’t going to be any sharing of anything regarding the District 4-5A championship last Tuesday.
The Lady Dragons (21-9) jumped all over Haltom in the first quarter and led 25-4. From there, it was just a matter of how large the margin of victory would be. Well, that turned out to be 75-32, as nine different players scored.Carroll won the outright championship with a 13-1 record and met Weatherford in the Class 5A Region I bi-district round Monday at Nolan Catholic High School, after the print deadline. If the Lady Dragons won, they would meet the winner of Midland Lee and El Paso Franklin. Carroll carried a 12-game winning streak into the postseason.These games sometimes summon a player who comes out of nowhere to make an impact and perhaps signal something could be coming in the postseason. Carroll knocked down nine three-point baskets and junior Rebecca Gordon had three of them. She went 3-for-3 and finished with nine points.Gordon has averaged just 4.1 points per game, so when she’s come into games she’s contributed. But this was a little different. Gordon scored only eight total points in her three previous games against Keller Fossil Ridge, Keller and Justin Northwest. In fact, Gordon has scored nine or more points on just three different occasions.From deepOk, so you know that the Lady Dragons are a prolific three-point shooting team. But since we’re in the postseason, let’s break down how good it was during the regular season.Carroll shot 35.9 percent from beyond the arc. The team averaged six makes per game and nearly 17 attempts per game. In seven games, the Lady Dragons had nine or more made 3s. That’s nearly 23 percent of their overall three-point production.In District 4-5A play, Carroll shot 36.9 percent (98-for-265) but closed very strong. In the final two games against Fossil Ridge and Haltom, the Lady Dragons were 19-for-30 (63.3 percent).Individually, Gretchen Morrison continued to knock them down at a torrid pace. She was 76-of-153 (49.7 percent), while Kennedy Leonard was a respectable 42-of-127 (33.1 percent). The aforementioned Gordon could emerge as one of the tougher three-point specialists next year. She was 25-of-56 (44.6).Favorable draw?Well, it would seem that way based on the way things look going toward the Region I tournament next weekend at the Wilkerson-Greines Activities Center. Again, upsets are possible, but the Lady Dragons would appear break through and get there after falling in the quarterfinals.Wins over Weatherford and then the winner of Midland Lee-El Paso Franklin would put the Lady Dragons into the Region I quarterfinals. They would face the winner from the quartet of El Paso El Dorado, Lubbock Coronado, Arlington Martin and Keller. It wouldn’t be unusual to see district foes face off against each other in the postseason. Carroll won both meetings from Keller in 4-5A play but didn’t face the other three teams.Martin and Keller followed Carroll in the bi-district playoff Monday at Nolan.Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
