Lake Country girls basketball has won 100 consecutive district games

When Lake Country Christian scored 16 of the first 19 points on Tuesday night, there was little doubt that the Eagles were going to hit a historic milestone.

The TAPPS Class 4A team went on to an 82-36 victory over Fort Worth Temple Christian, and claim its 100th straight district win, a streak that started during the 2007-08 season — when this year’s seniors were in the second grade.

“Watching some of these teams while I was in the fourth grade, I remember thinking ‘I wanted to be apart of this,’ ” junior forward Maddie Cawley said.

“It’s a big number,” coach Eric Boettcher added. “To go through district without losing a game for 10 years is an amazing feat. They’ve put in the hard work and now they’re getting some of the blessing from it.”

Boettcher is in his second season with Lake Country and has won 13 straight district games. He replaced Steve Rachal, who went 74-0 in district during his tenure. Tom Etchison started the streak and went 13-0.

The Eagles (21-8), ranked No. 1 in TAPPS 4A by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches, have played a tough nondistrict schedule that included UIL teams Argyle, Cedar Park, College Station and Wolfforth Frenship.

“We’ve been playing very tough 5A and 6A public schools to prepare us for district so I felt confident we would win this game and the girls did too,” Boettcher said. “We were playing for all the past players that were a part of this.”

Junior guard Morgan Campbell scored a game-high 31 points in the memorable game, and senior guard McKenna Whites added 25.

“I’ve been a part of the Lake Country Christian program for four years,” Whites said. “I know how much hard work has gone into this streak.”

Whites was also celebrated after the game for scoring 1,000 career points.

“I hope my leadership is the legacy I leave behind,” she said. “I want to be known as a good leader to the younger ones, a good player with a good attitude, and that I played for all the right reasons.”

The Eagles have won nine consecutive district titles and haven’t missed the playoffs since 2001.

Lake Country has made 10 TAPPS state tournament appearances and has won four titles, most recently in 2016. Not winning a championship last year motivates the Eagles this season.

“It’s going to take hard work, take some mental toughness in the playoffs,” Boettcher said. “We’ll make the playoffs, probably host a game, but our goal is to make the final four and win a state championship.”

The Eagles go for win No. 101 when they travel to Arlington Grace Prep on Friday night.

“I’m just blessed to be with this team, it’s truly been amazing,” Cawley said.

She wins 600

Samantha Morrow knows how to win.

She won four straight UIL girls state titles with Mansfield from 1999-2002, she beat cancer two years ago, and now the South Grand Prairie coach is a member of the 600-win club.

“It made me think of the first team and those group of girls that I coached, people I haven’t seen in a while,” Morrow said.

Morrow reached the mark Jan. 2 when the Warriors won at Grand Prairie 72-18. She was celebrated the following home game, Jan. 5, against Irving. The Warriors won that game 60-19.

“I’ve had some pretty good teams that won a lot of games,” she said. “I’ve been lucky enough to have good assistant coaches, good players, and good leaders.”

He wins 600

Richland boys coach Richard Bacon recorded his No. 600 a 52-48 with a victory over Fort Worth Polytechnic on Jan. 5.

His 33-year career includes the past 21 at Richland where he has 367 victories, including Tuesday’s 60-56 win against Grapevine.

This story was originally published January 11, 2018 at 3:47 PM with the headline "Lake Country girls basketball has won 100 consecutive district games."