Keller, Southlake Carroll girls’ playoff runs end in the regional semifinals

Little Elm guard Amarachi Kimpson’s three-point play with 2:21 left gave the Lobos a lead that they would never relinquish as Little Elm held off Keller 60-56 in a girls Class 6A Region 1 semifinal thriller on Friday night at Wilkerson-Greines Activity Center.

Little Elm (31-5), No. 19 in the final Texas Association of Basketball Coaches Class 6A state poll, moves on to meet No. 11 Coppell (37-3) at 1 p.m. on Saturday in the regional final back at Wilkerson-Greines for a berth in the state tournament next week in San Antonio.

The teams battled back and forth in the first half with neither team leading by more than four points. Back to back buckets by the Indians’ Jaeden Gillam and Renee Chmiel gave Keller (28-9) a 29-25 lead at the intermission.

Gillam was stellar for the Indians pouring in 30 points to go along with five rebounds, four steals and three assists. Gillam’s three-pointer with 5:49 left in the third quarter gave the Indians their biggest lead of the game at 39-30. But Keller would go scoreless for the next 3:26 to allow the Lobos to get back in the game.

Kimpson, who lead all scorers with 32 points including three three-pointers, chipped in seven during the Keller lull to help the Lobos tie the game at 39 with 2:54 left in the third quarter.

Kimpson also pulled down seven rebounds, had three steals and two assists.

There were 18 lead changes and six ties in the game and when a game is that close sometimes the difference can come down to simple things.

Like free throws.

Keller coach Kate Goldberg described her team as “very good” from the line all year, but the Indians struggled hitting only five of 12 on the night.

“Different gym, different backdrop, and probably adrenaline,” said Goldberg of her team’s free throw woes. “They’re a very good team, very well coached and very athletic. With their quickness maybe some of our legs were a little dead from that, but our girls played so fricken hard.

“There’s nothing that I can take away from them. Jaeden had 30 points which is incredible and they executed, but it just didn’t fall our way.”

The Lobos struggled in the first half at the line themselves hitting only three of six, but Little Elm went 11 of 14 after the break and was 10 of 11 in the final 2:21 of the game with Kimpson hitting six of seven.

Keller pulled to within 55-54 on a pair of free throws by Gillam with 18 seconds left, but Little Elm never left the door open for the Indians to tie or go ahead the rest of the way.

Raniyah Hunt added nine points for Little Elm, all on three-point baskets. Chmiel finished with 11 points for Keller.

Goldberg will lose Gillam, Chmiel and Mallory Mcquietor to graduation and all three have been a huge part of the Indians’ success over the past three seasons.

“These three seniors were on our first semifinal run when they were sophomores and we lost to South Grand Prairie really bad, but we said that we were going to get back to this place and we’re going to compete and we did that,” said Goldberg. “And it was on the shoulders of those three. They’re the hardest workers, the most coachable girls, selfless...there’s so many things I could say about those three and they’re going to be missed.

“I’ve never been a part of a team that I’ve loved so much and cared about so much because they care about each other. And when everyone buys in to the system and each other it makes for a fun atmosphere as a coach.”

Southlake Carroll rally falls just short in loss to Coppell

The Southlake Carroll girls basketball team chipped away at an early 14 point deficit, but couldn’t complete the comeback as the Dragons fell 51-41 to Coppell in a Class 6A Region 1 semifinal on Friday at Wilkerson-Greines Activity Center.

No. 11 Coppell (37-3) advances to play in the regional final at 1 p.m. on Saturday against No. 19 Little Elm (31-5), back at Wilkerson-Greines.

“They’re just so fundamentally sound and they don’t make mistakes,” said Carroll coach Robyn McCoart, a Carroll grad herself in her fifth year at the helm of the Dragons. “They’re where they’re supposed to be defensively and they just work hard and have a next play mentality...an impressive team.”

Indiana commit Julianna LaMendola took over midway through the first quarter and orchestrated an 18-2 run that gave Coppell a 23-9 lead with 6:40 left before halftime.

LaMendola had three assists to start the spree, with four points, and four rebounds during the run.

But No. 8 Carroll (31-4) slowly chipped away at the lead behind Army commit Camryn Tade.

Tade opened the second half with back to back baskets sandwiched around her own steal to cut the lead to 32-27 with 5:36 left in the third quarter.

“She’s just a workhorse,” said McCoart of Tade, one of three seniors on this year’s squad, who finished with seven rebounds one assist and one steal. “She’s in the 2,000-point club and, I don’t know the exact number, but probably half of those are off of offensive rebounds. Just from her tenacity and getting after it and getting back into it...she never quits.

“One of our mantras is ‘relentless’ and she’s the embodiment of that. She hates to lose.”

But the Dragons suffered long scoring droughts during the game. During the early run by Coppell, Carroll scored only one basket in over seven minutes.

After cutting the lead to five in the third quarter, the Dragons didn’t score again for 5:34 when Milania Jordan made a basket off an assist by Tade with two seconds left in the third. By then the Cowgirls had built the lead back to 10 to start the final quarter.

A three pointer by Jordan with 2:33 left in the game cut the lead to 41-39, but the Dragons didn’t score again until Tade hit a basket with one second remaining. During that time Coppell was hitting eight of 11 free throws.

“Our senior class this year, they’re strong basketball players, but they’re also amazing in the classroom,” said McCoart. “We have one going to West Point, one going to Notre Dame and I have a National Merit semifinalist. All of them have over a 100 GPA.

“I know Camryn got a 1500 on her SAT so just smart girls and the future is so bright for them outside of basketball and I’m just proud of who they are as people.”

This story was originally published February 25, 2023 at 4:35 AM.