Colleyville Heritage girls basketball team has two jobs
Colleyville Heritage’s girls basketball program has been through these types of weeks in the past. It’s a week where the program is at a pivotal moment.
The Lady Panthers (20-9, 6-3 in 7-6A) are on the verge of making their season better than what it already is. Colleyville Heritage, which has already clinched a playoff berth for the 12th time in head coach Dianna Sager’s 14 seasons, will spend the rest of the season trying to attain two objectives.
With pursuit of the district championship gone following their 46-32 loss to Euless Trinity, the Lady Panthers are trying to finish as high as second but stay out of fourth place. The District 7-6A playoff teams are known between Trinity, Hurst L.D. Bell, Carroll and Colleyville Heritage. Trinity is in line to clinch the outright district championship by the end of this week.
The Lady Panthers were coming off their second bye this past Friday and returned to district play Tuesday at home against Haltom. They play at Hurst L.D. Bell on Friday. Bell has Trinity on Tuesday.
Colleyville Heritage controls its fate because it plays the two teams it is challenging for second in Bell and Carroll in its final three games. Carroll is in second place at 7-2, the Lady Panthers and L.D. Bell are tied for third. Finishing fourth would mean facing Duncanville in the bi-district playoff round.
“We’ve always said that we wanted to be in a position where we could control our destiny,” Sager said. “The players know we have a chance to get second place. They’re very good about understanding what’s expected. They understand what we have to get done.”
The objective
When Colleyville Heritage faced Euless Trinity the first time, Trinity post Trinity Oliver scored 29 points. In the rematch, the defensive game plan changed to where Oliver battled through fouls. She was held to 17 points. However, the Lady Panthers went cold from the field and wound up losing by 14.
On Friday, there is the second meeting with Hurst L.D. Bell and national recruit Lexi Gordon. Gordon scored 24 points in Bell’s Jan. 12 44-42 victory. But in that game, no one else scored more than six. Carroll put a double team on Gordon in its 40-27 win on Jan. 22. She scored 22 points but seven in the second half. Of course, Sager won’t comment on specifics. But she is one for changing the approach. It’s likely sophomore forward Bryn Gerlich will get the defensive assignment.
Sager is very pleased with the way her defense has improved throughout the season. Colleyville Heritage is yielding about 40 points per game.
“We’ve changed some things where we’re forcing teams to go more baseline and just worked on our shell drills more,” Sager said. “If we can get things in transition and points off our defense, that’s a great thing. But we want them to really work for their shot.”
Grapevine update
The Lady Mustangs (13-11, 9-0 in 6-5A) still have a goal of winning the outright and undefeated district championship. A victory at second-place Birdville (7-2) on Tuesday would have secured the outright part.
A win at home on Friday’s senior night against third-place Lake Dallas (6-3) would virtually assure them of the undefeated part.
“We keep trying to reiterate that we want to get them playoff ready,” head coach Lindy Lombard said. “I’m glad we have these games at the end of the season. There’s still quite a bit of pressure involved. But it’s a good pressure.”
Lombard is hoping her team’s shooting will improve. Grapevine has shot in the 30 percent range in each of its last two games.
This story was originally published February 1, 2016 at 4:26 PM with the headline "Colleyville Heritage girls basketball team has two jobs."