Playing at high level:
L-E girls win tournament
TYLER, Texas—Liberty-Eylau coach Robert Cochran called the second half of Saturday’s game with Bishop Gorman the best 16 minutes one of his teams has played in several years.
Tournament MVP Imani Wright poured in 20 of her game-high 28 points during the final two quarters liberty-eylau 69, Bishop Gorman 55 as L-E (14-3) rallied to beat the Lady Crusaders, 69-55.
“We executed at both ends of the court in the second half,” Cochran said. “This win shows we have the ability to play at such a high level. We’ve still got six weeks to improve. We’re happy to win this tournament, and we’d like to win district, but our goal is to win a state championship.”
While Wright provided the offense, senior Shardé Collins was outstanding on defense against Gorman’s own Division I signee Michelle Obach, who scored 14 of her team-high 22 points in the second half.
“She (Obach) shot a lot of free throws, but Shardé was a big key in this win,” Cochran said. “Shardé is one of the best defensive players I’ve
coached, and Obach is a special player. We’ve already faced six or seven D-I guards this season and Obach is the best we’ve played.”
L-E led 16-9 at the first break and that advantage disappeared in a hurry with Gorman’s Brooke Lee converting two treys and scoring nine of her 12 points in the second quarter to help the Crusaders build a 32-28 lead at intermission.
The Leopards scored the first 16 points in the third quarter to take command. Wright had 12 during that run, and sophomore Morgan Utsey scored a key basket. Utsey was outstanding with a season-high 12 points after scoring 10 Friday against John Tyler.
Collins and senior post Lauren Godfrey were selected to the all-tournament team. Collins tallied 19 points against the Crusaders and pulled down 11 rebounds. Godfrey grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds.
Gorman slipped to 17-3 on the season, two of its loses now at the hands of L-E.
In other tournament action Mineola won the consolation crown over Hallsville, 67-54. The third-place game between district rivals John Tyler and Lindale was not played.
The Leopards play at Martin’s Mill next week before opening District 13-3A play.