Tourneys go well, not well and just weird for girls teams

Last weekend’s girls basketball tournament play went well for Colleyville Heritage and not as well for Grapevine. For Southlake Carroll, it went just plain weird.

The Lady Dragons experienced the bizarre in the championship game against Weatherford in the White Settlement Brewer tournament this past weekend. An apparent scorebook error played into a 48-47 loss in the championship game.

However, head coach Teri Morrison, though, said the major element was in what her team could and could not control. The Lady Dragons committed 20 turnovers.

“That was really the difference,” Morrison said. “It was a strange game. But we just have to move forward because we have a very challenging week in front of us.”

Carroll played host to Colleyville Heritage on Tuesday. It opens District 5-6A play Friday at favorite Euless Trinity.

The program has integrated three out-of-state transfers. Well, one left and then returned. Sophomore Annie Thomas moved in from Milwaukee. The 6-1 post has been more of a rebounder (5.8 per game) to this point of the season. However, Morrison is hoping she will be more of a scoring presence as the season unfolds.

Junior guard Abby Zeitsiff is a move-in from Long Island, N.Y. and has turned into this team’s 3-point specialist. Averaging 9.3 points per game, Zeitsiff had 18 points – all on three-point makes – in the Brewer championship against Weatherford.

“Abby has a great shot and continues to play very well for us,” Morrison said. “She’s fit in well with us.”

The other move in is junior guard Anna Gillian. Gillian left Carroll in the middle of her freshman year as the family moved to Bermuda. However, the family returned in time for this season. She is averaging 4.6 points and 3.4 rebounds per game.

Colleyville Heritage (8-4): Say this for head coach Dianna Sager: she’s never ducked anyone in her non-district schedule. Following Tuesday’s game at Carroll, the Lady Panthers play host to area power Keller on Friday.

That follows a 4-1 showing in the Katy Tournament. Colleyville Heritage finished third. Junior wing Bryn Gerlich was named to the all-tournament team.

“We played some really good teams and that’s what I want to do with this team every year,” Sager said. “I’m fine with a .500 non-district record because we’re going to get better because of it.”

Senior guard Caitlyn Foster returned from a shoulder injury and started two games in the Katy Tournament. However, Sager was cautious with playing time. Senior guard McKinley Charles shot her way out of a slump with a strong performance in Katy, Sager said.

Grapevine (3-6): The Lady Mustangs play only one game this week, on Tuesday against Coppell. While Grapevine went 1-2 in the Canyon Tournament, head coach Lindy Slagle said she continued to see the evolution of this team’s offense.

“It wasn’t the results we were looking for, but I like how organized we were and that we were getting people open,” Slagle said. “We just need to be a little more consistent rebounding, how we handle the ball and blocking out on defense. We’re getting this there. This will be a good week of work.”

This story was originally published December 7, 2016 at 3:20 PM with the headline "Tourneys go well, not well and just weird for girls teams."