Cowgirls lose heartbreaker in Area round, 66-65
The Edna Cowgirls couldn’t quite overcome a 40-point performance by Lytle’s Calyssa Sevier and lost 66-65 Fri., Feb. 16 in the girls Class 3A Region 4 Area playoffs at Seguin High School.
Sevier came out firing, scoring 15 of Lytle’s 22 points in the first quarter as the Lady Pirates jumped out to a 22-16 lead.
Edna adjusted in the second quarter and pulled even at halftime, 32-32. From that point on, the teams remained close until the end, when Edna held a two-point lead with less than a minute to play.
Sevier hit a three-point shot to put the Lady Pirates up by one with 15 seconds remaining.
Isabella Plotini got a good look at the basket with three seconds left that would have won the game, but the shot rimmed in and back out, Edna coach Dustin Durham said.
“Lytle came out hot in the first quarter,” Durham said. “In the second quarter our girls locked in on defense and held them to 10 points.
“(Sevier) came out and scored 25 of their 34 points in the second half. We continued playing well on offense the whole second half. It’s just that when it came down to it, they made the big basket and we missed it.”
Even with their defense designed around stopping Sevier, she still found her shots, Durham said.
“We tried to trap her and that led to some good steals at times, and then there were other times when she split the trap and hit some great shots,” he said.
Senior Kashiya Robinson led the Cowgirls with 21 points and several steals and deflections, and junior Shanti Guerra scored 16 points.
“Kashiya had some good deflections tonight,” Durham said. “Many of them were on passes by (Sevier). That led to some great transition opportunities.”
In addition to Robinson, the Cowgirls also will lose seniors Emilie Spree and Brandy Callis to graduation. Everyone else will be back.
Edna finished the season at 29-8 overall. Lytle advanced to the regional quarterfinals to play Columbus, which defeated Poth in its area game. Likewise, Hallettsville also advanced to the quarterfinals to play San Antonio Cole. The fourth District 25-3A team, Tidehaven, lost to Cole in the bi-district round.
Regardless of the outcome of Friday’s game, Durham said he was extremely proud of his players.
“I’m just so proud of them,” he said. “Even though we lost, I still wouldn’t trade them for anything.”
Congratulations to the Cowgirls on a great season!
Edna 63, Marion 41
Edna opened the playoffs with a 63-41 win over Marion in the Class 3A Region 4 Bi-District round on Tue., Feb. 13.
The Cowgirls came out ready to play, pulling out to a 21-4 lead after the first quarter and keeping their foot on the gas through the rest of the game, leading by 17 at halftime and 18 by the end of the third quarter.
“Defense was the key,” Durham said. “Our girls were flying around everywhere on defense.”
That started with controlling the paint and the boards.
“The biggest key for us was to work hard for rebounds on defense,” he said. “We knew they had pretty good size so we were going to have to really focus on boxing them out and grabbing the rebound. Then once we got the rebound, we wanted to play fast on offense.”
Guerra led the Cowgirls with 19 points, Plotini scored 14, and Robinson had 11.
Edna improved to 29-7 with the Bi-District win.