McLeod girls fall short to Union Grove

BOGATA, Texas—McLeod waited a quarter too long to get going.

The Lady Longhorns fell behind early and spent the rest of the night fighting their way back against Union Grove, only to fall short, 52-44, in the Class 2A regional quarterfinal game Monday at Rivercrest High School.

McLeod cut the Lady Lions’ lead to six points more than once late, but ran out of time for its comeback bid.

The Longhorns, which finish their season at 27-7, shot 36 percent form the floor on 13 of 36 attempts. McLeod also held an advantage in rebounding, 35-28.

Union Grove (27-7) advances to the Region II-2A semifinals Friday at McKinney North High School. The

Lions shot 33 percent and committed 20 turnovers, compared to McLeod’s 29 turnovers.

“The girls were nervous; they settled down after the first quarter and played like I knew they could play,” McLeod coach Marty Francis said. “Union Grove made it to the third round last year, so they know what it’s about. Experience makes a difference.”

The Longhorns came out and had problems breaking Union Grove’s press in the first quarter, committing 13 turnovers and falling behind 9-0 and 17-2. All of McLeod’s points in the first quarter came from the charity stripe

The Lions held a 19-6 advantage at the first break and extended it to 22-6 prior to a 6-point rally by the Longhorns, who got their first field goal 11 minutes into the game to make it 22-12.

Union Grove managed the next six points and took a 17-point lead at 32-15 with 2:08 left in the half. McLeod closed the gap by ending the half on an 8-4 run, going into intermission down 36-23.

The Horns cut their deficit to 10 quickly in the third, then nine points, then seven in the final seconds of the quarter. McLeod, which had matched UG with 17 points in the second quarter, held the Lions to five points in the third while scoring 11.

“Whenever an opponent has tried to shut one particular player down, we’ve had somebody step up,” Francis said. “It’s been that way all season; I guess that’s how you win 27 games. If you have two or three step up when they try to focus on one player, it says a lot about your team.”

Shelby Davis finished with a double-double for the Horns. She scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Tessa Glenn added 14 points.

Sisters Cheyenne (29 points) and Summer Grubbs (16) combined for 45 points for the Lions.