PG girls edge Brownsboro in nail biter

HALLSVILLE, Texas—If it were any closer, they’d have to play overtime.

Pleasant Grove edged Brownsboro, 54-51, in a Class 4A Region II quarterfinal varsity playoff game at Hallsville High School’s Bobcat Gym on Tuesday.

“We held their two best players to lower point totals than what they had previously averaged,” Lady Hawks head coach Marsha Cowling said. “I believe that was the difference in the game.

“Our offense was a little sluggish, and we missed some key shots. I was really proud of our man-to-man defense. I talked to them at halftime about how we needed to get inside more and make the other team foul us…and they did. Two key Brownsboro players fouled out.”

Pleasant Grove (29-3) will face either Dallas Lincoln (28-4) or Aubrey (23-11) in the Class 4A Region II semifinal at Texas A&MCommerce at 5:30 p.m. Friday.

Pleasant Grove is ranked No. 8 in the Texas Girls Coaches Association state poll while Lincoln is rated No. 4.

Key Bearette player Paris Miller fouled out and scored just a point, and key teammate Kentoya Woods finished with 27 points.

The entire game was a back-and-forth affair and came down to the final seconds.

Shanequa Henry poured in 16 points for the Hawks, Asia Lloyd 12, and Keshawn Davis and Mayia Ware each had 10.

With the game knotted at 49-all with 1:04 left, Davis posted up and hit a short-range shot to give the Hawks a 51-49 lead.

Woods connected on 1 of 2 charity shots to make it 51-50. Lloyd hit 1 of two shots for the Hawks to make it a 2-point game, 52-50.

Woods was fouled and had a chance to tie it for the Bearettes, but missed her first attempt. Pleasant Grove rebounded the ball, and Henry was fouled. Henry knocked down both freebies to make it 54-51 with 6.5 seconds remaining.

Woods got off a shot that swirled out of the rim as time expired, but the referee had already waived it off—the shot would not have counted.

The Hawks shot 48 percent from the field on 19-of-40 shooting, while Brownsboro hit on 19 of 38 attempts for 50 percent.

Pleasant Grove was slightly outrebounded, 25-23. The Bearettes had more turnovers, 22-20.

The Hawks’ third quarter was their most productive as they outscored Brownsboro, 19-14. PG’s third-quarter performance gave the Hawks a 45-41 lead going into the final stanza.

Ware led the scoring in the third with six points, while Henry and Lloyd each hit a trey for the Hawks.

Five different players scored for Pleasant Grove in the opening quarter.

Woods put up 11 points in the first period, and the Bearettes took an early 16-12 lead.

The second quarter was played on even terms, with the Hawks outscoring Brownsboro, 14-11.

Henry swished in a shot from 3-point land early in the quarter to give PG some momentum.

Each team played solid defense and contested every shot. Lloyd hit a shot from downtown to pull the Hawks within three, 21-18.

After a missed Bearette shot, Pleasant Grove’s Ware connected on two charity shots to make it a 1-point game.

The Hawks had a chance to take the lead before halftime on two free throw attempts, but the shots failed to connect. Pleasant Grove went into the locker room trailing by a point, 27-26.

Brownsboro 16 11 14 10 — 51 Pleasant Grove 12 14 19 9 — 54 BROWNSBORO (51): Miller 0 1-2 1, Warren 1 0-0 3, Moore 2 3-4 7, Woods 11 4-7 27, Rumbo 3 1-3 9, Hooker 1 0-0 2, Downey 1 0-0 2, TOTALS 19 9-16 51.

PLEASANT GROVE (54): Lloyd 4 3-9 12, Levingston 2 0-2 5, Ware 4 2-5 10, Henry 5 4-5 16, Davis 4 2-2 10, Robertson 0 1-1 1, TOTALS 19 12-24 54.

3-point goals: BB-Rumbo 2, Warren, Woods. PG-Henry 2, Levingston, Lloyd. Team fouls: Brownsboro 19, Pleasant Grove 17. Fouled outWare, Miller, Moore.