Kianna Wormley scored 11 of her career-high 13 points in the first quarter as Vista Ridge (15-8, 4-0) played great defensively to beat McNeal 43-20 in District 25-6A on Tuesday night. The victorious Rangers led 15-1 after the first quarter and held the Mavericks (13-8, 2-2) with no points from the field until Riley Samples hit the basket with 3 minutes 12 seconds left in the second period.
Wormley had 10 rebounds and two steals in a solid effort as the Rangers played hard in personal defense and didn’t give the Mavericks a shooting opportunity and a shooting opportunity. She was also active in paints.
“We wanted to get inside early, that was our plan and it really worked,” Wormley said. “We hit the ball very well and I was able to open up inside.”
Vista Ridge’s defenses were all over the place; The Rangers denied the Mavericks paint and put pressure on the perimeter, passing and shooting all over the place, throwing 24 passes and 14 interceptions.
“We’ve really worked on our defense, and playing in North Texas last weekend against high-speed sports teams really made us focus on the basics and play better defensively,” Vista Ridge head coach Keith Allen said.
More: Austin High School Girls Basketball Weekly Report, Rankings, Awards
The Rangers limited McNeal to one point in the first quarter and four more in the second to take a 17-5 lead at halftime. McNeil entered the game averaging over 40 points per game in district play, but was unable to break or break through the Rangers’ defense.
“Well, we played great defensively and shot the ball well in the first quarter,” Allen said, “but they moved the basket or something and we only made two free throws ourselves in the second quarter,” since 13 points Wormley in the first half represented more points than all other players combined from both teams.
The Rangers adjusted their offense in the half and beat the Mavericks 15–6 in the third quarter. All of McNeal’s six points in the third quarter came from a pair of 3-point shots by Samples, who scored half of McNeil’s points with 10 points and five rebounds. Karvi Madyastha added five points to his free throws.
Vista Ridge went 7-0 and 8-0 to take a 32-11 lead after three quarters. The Rangers beat McNeil 11–9 in the fourth quarter to take the final lead.
Vista Ridge freshman Nadia Adeleke had a good game with six points and eight rebounds, while Reagan Pavesi scored eight points, Abby Seitz added six, and Ivy Nathanson and Alea Pinai each scored four points.
In other regional games, Round Rock (18-5, 3-1) got 16 points from Bailey Featherstone and edged out Stony Point 58-37, while the Tigers (20-4, 2-2) fell out of a four-way tie for second place. Ayma Ofunrein led Stony Point with 12 points and eight rebounds, while Round Rock received support with 11 points from Deja Zuniga and 10 from Macie Upshaw.
In District 26-6A, TGCA ranked No. 1 and No. 3 Austin High beat Lake Travis 47–41, with Bowie moving to second by beating Westlake 52–26. Buda Johnson beat Akins 69-26 and Dripping Springs beat Del Valle 49-26. Austin High is 7-0 in the county, Bowie is 6-1, and Lake Travis and Westlake are tied 5-2. Bryan defeated Weiss 56-44.
Hendrickson thrashed Bastrop 73-15 as Niya Waters and Amia Edwards each scored 16 and Mikala Buckley added 12. Hendrickson (21-4, 4-0) takes on Pflugerville on Friday night in a key regional competition. On Tuesday, the Panthers (19-5, 4-0) beat Georgetown 44-31.
“The team was energized, did a great job following the game plan,” said Pflugerville coach April Handl. The Panthers got 11 points each from Jordinn Watts and Jayda Gomez, with Kpyritt Plummer adding eight points and Avari Berry seven.
In the latest tournament update, the Panthers posted a 2-2 record at the Spring Creek Invitational. Pflugerville beat Houston Cypress Creek 68–44 as Berry and Watts scored 16 points each before losing to eventual champion Mansfield Timberview 71–57 despite Berry’s 18 points. The Panthers beat Pearland Dawson 62–56 in double overtime as Berry scored 20 points, then ended in a 61–48 loss to Lake Ridge as Plummer scored 20 points with eight boards and Berry added another 17 points and six assists.
Hayes, ranked 5th in the state, hit the road and beat the two-time defending state champion and five-time champion Cedar Park County 45–42. Hayes point guard Neila Castillo scored 28 points to lead the Hawks. Lockhart edged Rose 49-46 as Maila Johnson led the Lions with 23 points and Rakaya Walker added 21. Rose led with 14 points from Lily Gonzalez and eight from Meryn Smith. East View outscored Cedar Creek 80–42 and Glenn beat Leander 51–25. McCallum improved to 17-7, 7-0 as the Knights thrashed Crockett 66-18. Marble Falls beat Brownwood 60-37, Jarrell beat China Spring 54-46 and Lampasas beat Gatesville 46-36.
