POWER FORWARD
Ranked No. 1 and 32-0 after beating the Rockets, state title game looms
Cy Creek runs over Converse Judson 55-34 to reach 6A state final.
GOLIAD — Ranked No. 1 in the state according to the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches and fifth in the country by ESPN, Cypress Creek once again rebuffed anything remotely resembling a challenge ahead of the Class 6A state championship game.
The Cougars didn’t blink, taking down Region IV champion Converse Judson in Saturday’s 55-34 state semifinal win at the Goliad Events Center.
The Cougars move to 32-0. They are winners of 73 of their last 74 games. They are in a 6A title game for the second consecutive year. They will play DeSoto at 7 p.m. on March 11 at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
Cy Creek was once again overwhelming, building a 20-0 run in the first half en route to victory and using defense and rebounding to do so. The Cougars held Judson (26-2) to four points in the second quarter and its lowest point total in a game this year.
“We hang our hat on that and rebounding,” Cy Creek coach Jennifer Alexander said. “We talk about rebounding and defending. I think at least one quarter in all the games we’ve held them to four points at some point. It’s a tribute to them following the scouting report and settling a little bit after that first quarter. They did a great job.”
The Rockets scrapped with the state’s top-ranked team in the game’s opening minutes, holding a 10-6 lead after Amira Mabry’s bucket. Judson guard Kierra Sanderlin, a Rutgers signee finishing the first quarter with eight points, gave Cy Creek problems early on, too.
Cy Creek senior guard Rori Harmon flipped the switch all top-ranked teams seem to have, though. She nailed a 3-pointer with 1:03 left in the first quarter to put Cy Creek ahead, 13-12. Then, Harmon deflected a Judson pass into backcourt mate Kyndall Hunter’s hands. On the other end, Harmon had another 3pointer up her sleeve for a 19-12 Cy Creek lead.
“It spread the lead and it gave us a lot of momentum and we kept that lead, so I’m glad we did,” Harmon said. Cy Creek senior center Taylor Jackson, perhaps unheralded considering she plays on a team featuring two McDonald’s All Americans in Hunter and Harmon, was a major presence Saturday. With Cy Creek ahead 19-12, she came up with a block in the paint, which turned into a bucket for Hunter.
Cy Creek finished the first quarter with a 21-12 lead and the Cougars weren’t done. Cy Creek sophomore Krishawn Lee opened the second quarter with a 3pointer of her own.
Jackson chipped in another block and steal, later turning in a layup on Cy Creek’s half of the court. Then came Hunter’s made layup as she was fouled. Hunter’s subsequent made free throw bookended the 20-0 run.
Judson’s Kiyonna Botello stopped the bleeding with a 3-pointer. The damage was already done, though. Cy Creek led 33-16 at halftime.
“They had a great transition game going,” said Judson coach Triva Corrales, whose team has won Region IV five consecutive years and won a state title in 2019. “We had a really tough time blocking out. It was just really the basics of the game. We did a great job in the second half. I think we only lost the second half by four points. We have the experience so I honestly don’t have an answer. I think we might have just got caught up and couldn’t really stop the bleeding at that point.”
Hunter keyed in on turning defense to offense, saying “Coach (Alexander) tells us if we play defense and rebound, the offense will come. So, we just really feed off of that and each other’s energy.”
There were a few feisty moments between the two teams in the second half, one involving Jackson and a Judson player. Hunter received a technical foul in the second half, too. It’s nothing this Cy Creek team hasn’t seen. They are used to handling even the turbulent moments.
“Just to keep our composure because our opponents are going to come at us strong,” Jackson said. “We have to keep our heads up and be there for one another. When stuff was happening, I had Rori and Kyndall. They had my back out there.”
Cy Creek is in the middle of its third state tournament berth in four seasons. The 2017-2018 run ended in the state semifinals against Plano. Last year’s run to the state title game ended at the hands of juggernaut Duncanville.
Now, Cy Creek has no qualms about what’s missing on its résumé.