L-E girls lose to Gilmer
MOUNT VERNON, Texas—Liberty-Eylau forced Gilmer to play its game, but the cards didn’t fall for the Lady Leopards.
L-E turned what could’ve been a run-and-gun high-scoring Class 4A area game into a defensive showdown, with the Lady Buckeyes grabbing the fourth-quarter momentum to eliminate the Leopards, 41-34, Friday at Mount Vernon’s Tiger Gym.
Liberty-Eylau shot 23 percent for the game on 13-of 57 field goal attempts. The Leopards, who end their season at 22-13, committed only eight turnovers in the game, compared to Gilmer’s 20.
“We came in with the game plan to slow No. 22 (Kyla Grant) down,” Liberty-Eylau coach Aquanetta Watson said. “The first time we played them, she scored 30.
“Our game plan was to take away their inside presence because they’ve got two big girls. We did a great job of executing the game plan. The shots just weren’t falling for us late.”
The Buckeyes (30-6) held a noticeable 63-38 advantage in rebounding but shot just 24 percent on 13-of-54 shooting. Gilmer converted half its free throws (12 of 24) for a 6-point advantage over the Leopards at the charity stripe.
After a furious third quarter, L-E went cold in the fourth and mustered just three points— all from the foul line—as the Leopards missed 16 field goal attempts in the fourth quarter, many contested by the Bucs’ taller post players.
Liberty-Eylau tied the game on Eliyah Howard’s 3-pointer 19 seconds into the second half, but Gilmer answered with a 5-0 run to go up 20-15— the largest lead by either team up to that point.
Over the last five minutes of the third, the Leopards used a 10-1 streak to close out the quarter with a 16-6 run, taking a 31-26 advantage into the fourth quarter.
Taylor Crabtree scored 13 points for L-E, and Howard added 12 points. Crabtree also had a double-double with 10 rebounds, and Derrica Henderson added eight boards.
Sharday Haley paced the Buckeyes with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Kyla Grant added 14 points and 20 boards, Haylee Jordan contributed 14 boards and Meshia Shead had eight.
The Leopards played the first half in a half-court defense, rather than pressing full court, and they were able to thwart the Gilmer offense to 6-of-32 shooting (19 percent) with 11 turnovers.
Liberty-Eylau didn’t fare much better, after a quick start, against the Buckeye defense. L-E shot just 18 percent in the first half on 5 of 28 field goals but had only four turnovers before intermission. The Leopards continued to protect the ball in the second half as well.
“I told the girls back during a district game that free throws were either going to make or break us in the postseason,” Watson said. “I told them, ‘I hope it makes us.’ That’s one of the things we focused on a lot in practice.
“If we knock down half of those missed 14 free throws, we’re at least going to overtime. I’m proud of the girls.”
The Leopards built a 6-2 lead and were up 9-5 at the first break. Crabtree scored five in the first quarter for Liberty-Eylau, and Howard had four.
Grant got going for the Buckeyes in the second quarter, converting a traditional 3-point play to start the period to cut Gilmer’s deficit to 9-8.
After a Howard floater for a bucket, the Buckeyes scored five straight and closed the half on a 7-1 run as Grant sunk a hook shot at the buzzer to give Gilmer a 15-12 advantage at intermission.
“I’m going to miss those five seniors; I couldn’t ask for a better group than these 12 girls,” Watson said. “They’ve given me everything that I’ve asked for and then some.”