Grapevine girls hoops decided underdog vs. Wichita Falls Rider
In the postseason, the roles can be reversed. Grapevine’s girls basketball team felt the pressure of being the favored team in first playoff game against Saginaw Chisholm Trail.
It showed. The Lady Mustangs played tight and had to find a way to survive in overtime. They did, 32-28.
But as they entered Tuesday’s Class 5A Region I quarterfinal against Wichita Falls Rider (34-1) in Bowie, the Lady Mustangs (18-11) were the decided underdogs. Head coach Lindy Lombard reminded her team of that. The girls had a playoff double header with the boys, who also played Rider. That game followed at 7:30 p.m.
“They’re the fourth-ranked team in the state,” Lombard said. “It was just our time to go out there and just play. These are the playoffs. It’s a different kind of game. You just never know what’s going to happen.”
Grapevine looked like a different team in this past Friday’s 46-33 area playoff victory over Burleson Centennial. Holding a slim lead going into the fourth quarter (28-27), the Lady Mustangs were composed, executed their offense and delivered a dominant performance to win comfortably.
“Really the difference for us in those two games is that we were too hyped up and nervous and made it a big deal in the first one,” Lombard said. “In the Centennial game, we were just more comfortable with what we were going to do. They just had a different sense about how to go about things.”
Against the Lady Raiders, this is a team that won all of its district games in pretty comfortable margins. But it’s been a different story in the postseason.
In their 59-53 bi-district playoff win over Lake Dallas, the Lady Raiders had to survive a 23-point fourth quarter by the Lady Falcons. In the 49-36 area victory over Crowley, Rider trailed at halftime and needed an 18-5 fourth quarter to pull away.
That said, the Lady Mustangs understood the challenge. It was going to be important for Lombard’s leaders in Abby Sandy, Tatum Tellin and Jessi Prater to lead on the floor and in the scoring column.
Lombard expected Rider to deploy a full court press to see how the those three would be able to handle it. But if the guards broke it, Grapevine had to score. Sandy has enjoyed a very good first week. She scored 13 and 11 points in the two playoff games and had a knack of hitting big shots.
“That would give us some confidence if she can keep doing that,” Lombard said. “But the other thing is that Tatum is our rock because of all of the other things that do not show up in the box score. We need everybody to play well.”
Had Grapevine won, it would advance to the Region I tournament in Snyder and play the winner of El Paso Burges-San Angelo Lakeview in one semifinal.
Colleyville Heritage update
A tough fourth quarter ultimately proved too much for the Dianna Sager’s Lady Panthers. They fell to Cedar Hill, 60-44, in the 6A Region I bi-district round. Colleyville Heritage closed the season at 22-11. Colleyville Heritage loses only two seniors from this squad but returns everybody else as it moves down to Class 5A for the next two seasons.
This story was originally published February 22, 2016 at 4:17 PM with the headline "Grapevine girls hoops decided underdog vs. Wichita Falls Rider."