San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Cougars falter against Eagles’ final flourish
Clark fourth-year varsity guard Hailey Adams gathered her team for a final time.
“I had a great senior year,” she told her teammates. “I’m going to miss y’all.”
Adams’ parting shot occurred after the Cougars’ 56-47 loss to DeSoto in a Class 6A state semifinal Friday night at the Alamodome.
“I’m going to remember this forever,” Adams said. “This is an amazing group of girls and I wouldn’t have wanted to make it this far with anyone else.”
Adams and senior forward Aaliyah Roberson, a three-year starter, played their final games for Clark. Both were grateful to help the Cougars reach the state tournament for the first time.
“It’s so great to be recognized with these girls,” Roberson said. “They are like my family, so everything that I do with them is just great. I’m just happy that we got this far, but I wish we could have gone just one more, but it’s OK.”
For three quarters, it looked like the Cougars might pull off an upset of the reigning state champions, who are ranked second nationally. But a 13-0 DeSoto run to start the fourth quarter enabled the Eagles to put it away.
“I think we matched their tempo early,” Clark coach Rihana Houy said. “I think we came out firing strong outside early. But we had some costly turnovers some offensive boards (for DeSoto) hurt us a little bit. We fought hard and we fought to win and not to lose.”
Clark junior guard Ramsey Robledo and Roberson had 12 points apiece to lead the Cougars.
Robledo scored her points on four 3-pointers and she knocked in three in the first half to allow the Cougars take a 21-15 lead with 6:26 left in the second quarter.
DeSoto finished the first half with an 11-2 run to take a 31-26 lead into halftime.
Clark had an 8-0 run capped by
a turnaround jumper by sophomore Arianna Roberson, Aaliyah’s sister, for a 35-33 lead with 3:04 left in the third. DeSoto finished
the third with a 5-0 run before seizing momentum with 13 straight points to open the fourth.
Jiya Perry led DeSoto (34-2) with 10 points and 15 rebounds. Ja’Mia Harris added 13 points. Sa’Myah Smith, an LSU signee, contributed 12 rebounds and eight points. Texas-signee Amina Muhammad had seven points. Tionna Herron, who is signed with Kentucky, had seven points.
“I think their experience certainly helped,” Houy said. “I think they certainly had the legs to do it. They fought hard for four quarters and I think that made a world of difference. They also hit some shots late in the game that weren’t falling for them early on and that were falling in our favor.”
Arianna Roberson, a 6-foot-3 center, who posted nine rebounds and eight points, was emotional after the game. She was comforted by teammates, including her sister.
“She’s going to be a phenomenal player,” Aaliyah said of her sister, who was playing varsity for the first time this season. “Her coming in as a sophomore and helping lead this team and doing what she does on defense and even on offense just being a big presence. She has a bright future.”
Arianna Roberson, Robledo and sophomore guard Natalie Huff are all expected to return next season.
“I’m really proud of them,” Houy said of her team. “To set the records that we set ... It was the first time Clark has ever made it to state. That’s something that we’re all incredibly proud of. Like these girls mentioned, I wish we could have hung on for one more game.”