Basketball Insider: Injuries didn’t sideline Mansfield Summit girls
Despite losing three girls to injury, Mansfield Summit made its deepest playoff run in four years, losing to Frisco Liberty in the Class 5A Region II final on Saturday.
Seven seniors helped Summit (32-7) overcome its obstacles, including Celsi Caraway, who led the team in scoring with 14 against Liberty and 12 in the regional semifinal versus Prosper on Friday.
“We went through so many ups and downs, but that’s how we roll. We got used to it and never let it get to us,” Caraway said. “We always hold each other up and fought for each other.”
One player they were fighting for was junior point guard Amber Dixon, who was injured early in the season.
“Amber was the glue. We came together and had a talk and said we were playing for her and the ones around us,” Caraway said. “Our senior group has been together since middle school and our bond is unbreakable.”
It was even more special for head coach Dawn Mailloux-Smith, taking Summit as far as it went in her first year as head coach.
“We missed the playoffs last year, so we took that a little bit personal and we were trying to get back to some of those traditional things we’ve always done at Summit,” Mailloux-Smith said.
Magic number
The theme is the number nine for three girls teams at this week’s UIL state tournament in San Antonio.
If Class 3A Brock wins, it will be the program’s ninth in 15 years, while 5A Canyon would win its ninth in 14 years. Class 6A No. 1 Duncanville (37-0) can win its ninth is program history and the first since back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013.
Familiar foe
When the Mansfield Lake Ridge boys meet defending 5A state champ Lancaster at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Duncanville, it will be the third time this season and ninth in the past four years.
Lake Ridge is 1-7 in the series, and the Tigers (31-2) have won the past six. In the postseason, the Eagles (18-14) are averaging 78 points a game, while Lancaster is limiting teams to 50 a game.
Five Eagles scored in double figures in their 84-63 win on Friday against Tyler, led by 17 points apiece from Donovan Grayson and Mike Adewunmi.
This season, Lancaster has defeated Lake Ridge 64-46 and 78-56.
Tuesday’s games to watch
Class 6A boys — DeSoto (31-2) vs. Justin Northwest (23-11), 7 p.m. at Arlington Lamar: DeSoto is looking for its fifth trip to the regional tournament in eight years. The Eagles will be a tough draw with 6-foot-10 senior Marques Bolden down low. Northwest is in the third round for the first time since 1999 and looking for its first regional tournament since 1994.
Class 5A boys — Fort Worth Dunbar (20-11) vs. Everman (21-9), 7:30 p.m. at Burleson Centennial: This is expected to be a high-scoring game. Dunbar’s Logan Ray had 34 on Friday and Quinton Brigham had 26 in the first round. Everman’s Jonathan Jackson hit the buzzer beater against Saginaw Chisholm Trail on Friday for 41 points and 15 rebounds.
Class 4A boys — Wichita Falls Hirschi (22-11) vs. Kennedale (24-12), 7:30 p.m. at Decatur: The rubber match of the season as both have met twice in nondistrict play. Hirschi won the most recent meeting 60-49 on Dec. 21. The first meeting also took place at Decatur with Kennedale winning 74-60.
This story was originally published February 29, 2016 at 6:44 PM with the headline "Basketball Insider: Injuries didn’t sideline Mansfield Summit girls."