State champs at last! DeSoto brings home first girls basketball title in 6A final
No better way to cap off the UIL girls basketball season than with the top two ranked teams fighting it out for the state championship in the largest classification.
No. 2 DeSoto turned up its defense for three and a half quarters to knock off undefeated and No. 1 Cypress Creek, 53-37 in the Class 6A title game at the Alamodome.
The Eagles end the season 28-2 and capture their first title in program history.
DeSoto came in 0-2 in previous state final appearances.
“It means everything. All the work we put in, the recovery, the practice, it’s worth it and to do it for the community,” DeSoto coach Andrea Robinson said. “DeSoto has been waiting a long time for this championship. As a coach, it’s awesome to bring home the first state championship. We’ve planned to do this and I’m proud of these ladies.”
DeSoto struggled to make a basket for a quarter and a half.
The Eagles shot 2 of 15 from the field and missed all four attempts from behind the three-point line as Cypress Creek led 12-6 after the opening quarter.
Cypress Creek (32-1), which was making the trip to state for the third time in four years, extended the lead to 19-11 on a Kyndall Hunter three with 6:22 left in the second quarter.
Ariyanna Hines knocked down two threes to help DeSoto get within 21-17, but Hunter answered with another three of her own for a 24-17 lead with 2:35 before intermission.
Then it was if the imaginary lid moved from DeSoto’s basket to Cypress Creek’s.
“I told them not to panic. We’ve been here before,” Robinson said. “The thing I’ll remember the most is how tough and resilient this team is. They fought and persevered through the year. It’s probably the toughest team I’ve ever coached.”
The Cougars wouldn’t score for the rest of the quarter and DeSoto finished with a 10-0 run. Hines hit her third three of the period and Kendall Brown’s three-point play gave the Eagles a 25-24 lead with 57 seconds left.
DeSoto led 27-24 at the break.
“It allowed us to be tested,” said Robinson of DeSoto’s tough district schedule. “We’ve been down, lost leads, been in every situation possible and the level of competition got us ready for these kinds of moments.”
The Eagles’ defense was allowing 34 points per game this season. They held the Cougars to 13 points in the second half, six in the third quarter.
Cypress Creek shot 3 of 16 in the third quarter and 2 of 20 in the fourth.
The Cougars made just one of 12 attempts from three in the second half.
DeSoto went up by 10 (38-28) for the first time on Amina Muhammad’s layup with 2:36 left in the third. The Eagles took a 38-30 lead into the fourth.
“We struggled on offense early and Cypress Creek did a good job dominating the boards and played defense really well,” Robinson said. “I told them [before the game] that it was our time, our moment. We lost this moment a couple years ago. We were getting hurt on the boards. I told them to calm down, take care of the ball and continue to defend.”
The Eagles only shot four times in the fourth, but did go 9 of 12 from the free-throw line.
Junior forward Sa’Myah Smith was voted MVP with 10 points and 14 rebounds. Brown chipped in a team-high 12 points, four assists and went 4 of 6 at the line.
Hunter led all scorers with 17 points for Cypress Creek, which also lost the 6A final in 2020 to Duncanville. The Cougars other state appearance came with a semifinal loss to Plano in 2018.
“It’s icing on the cake,” said Brown about winning a gold medal. “It feels great to bring the first championship to DeSoto.”
