End of the road
Warriors shut down Bulldogs’ offense and cruise into final
SAN ANTONIO — Summer Creek’s Kaitlyn Duhon stepped off the court at the 1:44 mark in the fourth quarter Friday night.
The senior forward shared a moment with her coach, Carlesa Dixon, then went all the way down the bench, high-fiving her teammates for the last time.
The clock wound to zero, the buzzer sounded and South Grand Prairie beat Summer Creek 65-41 in a Class 6A girls basketball state semifinal game at the Alamodome.
“It was kind of sad,” Duhon, an Auburn signee, said of coming out of the game. “I feel like I left everything on the court that I had. I didn’t come up short anywhere. So I’m proud of myself and my teammates.”
South Grand Prairie (34-4), ranked fifth in the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches poll, advances to the Class 6A sate final at 8:30 p.m. Saturday and will play the winner of the other state semifinal game between DeSoto and San Antonio Clark.
No. 2 Summer Creek ends the season 38-2.
The Bulldogs were making their second state tournament appearance and their first since 2019.
The experience of playing in a state tournament game was a first for every member of the Summer Creek squad.
“Like I was telling Duhon in the middle line, this game isn’t going to define her career or the season that we have had,” Dixon said. “Yes, it’s very disappointing, but I’m proud of the many milestones they have set along the way. Yes, we wanted to win that one. It just means that we have to get back in the gym and have more work to do.”
Summer Creek started the game with a 3-pointer by sophomore guard Torran Deterville.
The 3-0 lead over the Warriors would be the Bulldogs’ only one of the game as South Grand Prairie led the rest of the way.
The Warriors dominated throughout the game, but it was the defense that set the tone. Sum
mer Creek had 25 turnovers, and South Grand Prairie scored 24 points off those turnovers in the game.
South Grand Prairie dominated in the paint with sophomore Adhel Tac. The 6-foot-5 post had a doubledouble with 21 points and 13 rebounds while adding two blocks for the Warriors. Freshman Taylor Barnes chipped in 12 points for South Grand Prairie.
“We played against a great team in South Grand Prairie,” Dixon said. “Their post players were good. They got us out of our game plan. We just dug ourselves a deep hole, and when you do that, it’s going to be hard to get out of.”
Summer Creek struggled to score all game and shot 25 percent from the field on 12-of-48 shooting, while South Grand Prairie shot 54.8 percent from the field on 23-of-42 shooting. Summer Creek scored six points in each of the first two quarters and shot 16.7 percent from the field in the first half.
For the game, the Warriors outscored the Bulldogs 36-12 in the paint.
Summer Creek went on a scoring drought for 5:05 in the second quarter.
“They play really tight defense,” Dixon said of South Grand Prairie. “I think it was more so that when we could get some stops, we couldn’t convert on them at all. They have quick hands, active hands, and got their hands in the passing lane.
They spread us out, and we weren’t patient enough.”
Deterville had a big impact for Summer Creek. She and Duhon each had 11 points with Duhon adding seven rebounds to lead the Bulldogs.
The sophomore didn’t like the feeling walking off without a state title and will look to continue working to get back to the state tournament in the 2022-23 season.
“It was a great experience seeing all the crowd getting riled up,” Deterville said. “Next year we’re going to have to come back 10 times harder expecting more and doing more.”