Cougars stay undefeated, advance to state semis
Cypress Creek doesn’t mind a little adversity. Winners of 71 of their last 72 games heading into Tuesday’s Class 6A Region III title date, the Cougars don’t get enough of it.
Shadow Creek’s 10-0 run in the third quarter’s opening minutes shrank Cy Creek’s 11-point halftime lead, but the state’s topranked girls team finished the frame with an 18-6 run en route to a 61-50 win at the Merrell Center.
Senior McDonald’s AllAmericans Rori Harmon and Kyndall Hunter finished with 21 and 20 points, respectively, for the Cougars (31-0), who advance to their third state tournament in four years and will face Converse Judson in the semifinals.
“It’s one game at a time always,” Cy Creek coach Jennifer Alexander said. “We played a good Shadow Creek team. They came to play. We know that we have to face a little bit of adversity to win a state championship. We hadn’t had a whole lot of it this year with the wins that we’ve gotten. That’s what’s going to help us this weekend. It’s good for us.”
Cy Creek received another scare at the first quarter’s 2:55 mark when Hunter left the game with an ankle injury. She’d check back in to rousing applause with just over six minutes left in the second quarter.
Cy Creek didn’t miss a step without Hunter thanks in part to Harmon, who constantly disrupted passing lanes while the Cougars controlled the boards and Shadow Creek lacked a shooting stroke.
Cy Creek’s 25-14 halftime lead was a win for Shadow Creek, considering it was almost double at 21 when the teams met in a December nondistrict game that Cy Creek won 74-47.
Shadow Creek’s 10-0 run started with Bre’yon White’s bucket and was followed by Da’Nae Williams’ steal and Brooklin Brown’s free throws. Then a pair of 3-pointers from R’Mani Taylor and Williams sandwiched a steal by White.
Cy Creek, with its lead whittled down to one, called a timeout as the Shadow Creek side of the Merrell Center roared.
“They were hitting their shots when she called a timeout,” Harmon said of Alexander. “She said, ‘Pick it up. Just pick it up. That’s all I have to say.’ She knows we’re capable of bringing it back, and we did. We just have to pick up our energy. We couldn’t let that happen again. We needed to minimize our mistakes, and we got back.”
The Cougars indeed responded emphatically with their 18-6 run, taking a 4330 lead into the fourth quarter. Harmon and Hunter had reached double figures with 12 and 15 points, respectively, at that point.
Shadow Creek tried to inch back toward the lead in the fourth quarter. A 3pointer from Brown made it 49-40 early in the quarter. Hunter, however, answered with a 3-pointer of her own to push the lead back to 12. The Cougars wouldn’t allow Shadow Creek to get close again.
Taylor, Shadow Creek’s junior guard, scored 20 points. White, a University of Oklahoma signee who likely has many more battles in her future against Texas signees Harmon and Hunter, finished a stellar high school career with 17 points. It was the first regional title game appearance for Shadow Creek (25-5).
Cy Creek, meanwhile, has unfinished business. Hunter, Harmon and the senior class reached the state semifinals as freshmen, losing to eventual champion Plano.
Last season, it was one step further, with a loss in the state title game against Duncanville.
“It just feels like we need to get this done,” Harmon said.
Hunter kept Tuesday’s win in perspective.
“We can’t get too excited,” she said, “because we’re not done yet.”