Arlington Bowie gets moving, passes Keller Timber Creek

By Kevin Casas

Special to the Star-Telegram

HALTOM CITY -- Arlington Bowie forward Ashley Ferguson knows the road only gets harder from here.

She scored 20 points to lift the Volunteers to a 64-30 win over Keller Timber Creek in the bi-district round of the Class 5A playoffs Monday at Thomas Coliseum.

Bowie (30-5) advances to the area round and will play Midland or El Paso Eastwood.

"I'm not sure what was going on with us," Ferguson said. "We just can't do that the farther we go, it's going to get much harder. We weren't getting back on defense early, and for me, I had to start setting picks for my guards to get some space."

Ferguson made it look easy after that, taking advantage of good positioning to get easy layups and create high-percentage shots.

Ferguson knocked down seven points in an 11-0 first-quarter run.

The Falcons (19-14) actually led 7-5 before Bowie head coach Kelly Carruthers called timeout.

"We were nervous," Carruthers said. "I told them they needed to get things going and that we don't play this way. We were prepared, had practiced with the boys all week so it was time to execute."

Carruthers also changed up the offensive flow to get Ferguson moving and setting screens. The rhythm began to free her up from the double team.

"She has a tendency to just stand there and look around if we don't get her involved early and we were not doing that to start," Carruthers said. "They were sagging down defensively and that's when we have to start moving in the offense."

Nia Roberts added 15 points for Bowie, and the defense helped key 16 Timber Creek turnovers.

The Falcons put up only 35 shots for the game, 13 of which came in the first half. By contrast, Bowie was 21 of 51 from the floor.

Emily Spector led Timber Creek with 11 points and Hilary Kelley had nine.

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