The Whitharral Lady Panthers fell behind early and couldn’t catch up in a 62-36 loss to the Whiteface Lady Lopes on January 9 in UIL District 7-1A high school girls’ basketball action.
The two teams, ranked eighth and seventh respectively by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches, are highly favored to either finish first or second in the district which gave this game – as well as perhaps an upcoming matchup in Whiteface – significant playoff implications.
Whiteface Head Girls’ Basketball Coach Jason Blankenship said a tough earlier schedule helped the Lady Lopes, but “we weren’t sure, either” concerning the matchup.
“We took their inside game away,” he said.
The Lady Lopes outrebounded Whitharral 38-25 and had 32 points in the paint verses 12 for Whitharral.
“We wanted to be out in the middle of the business,” he said, speaking of the Whiteface game plan.
Whitharral Head Girls’ Basketball Coach Madison Ortega said, “Whiteface is a solid squad and we knew that going in.”
“I though we fought hard, but couldn’t hit the shots we needed.” Ortega concluded, “We’re already back to the drawing board and looking forward to the next time we meet up!”
The Lady Lopes wasted no time in taking the lead. Emma Ayers scored first blood at the 6:52 mark, then Emily Blankenship hit a trey followed by two baskets from Jaedyn Rector for a 9-0 Whiteface lead just 2 ½ minutes into the game.
After a Whitharral timeout, the Lady Panthers got on the boards with back-to-back baskets from Avery McCain around the three-minute mark.
Whiteface went on another tear, however, scoring six on baskets from Hannah Blankenship and Timmya Olenga.
Whitharral’s Paige Smith was fouled on a basket with just four seconds left in the period. She made the free throw to cut the Whiteface lead to 15-7 at the buzzer.
Whitharral’s Madi Chavez opened the second quarter with a basket, answered by Lady Lope Lainey Sanders.
A second score from the Lady Panthers, this time from Rylee Kristinek, was answered by Sanders again for a 19-11 Whiteface lead with 5:03 left in the half.
Trinity Coronado hit a basket at the 4:30 mark, but Hannah Blankenship answered with two free throws soon after.
The Lady Panthers cut the Whiteface lead to 21-16 on a trey from Smith, but Olenga answered with a basket for a 23-16 score with just over two minutes left in the half.
Two free throws Smith cut the Whiteface lead to 23-18, but Rector made baskets at the 1:15 mark and with just 11 seconds left in the half for a 27-18 Whiteface lead.
Whitharral opened the second half with a three-point shot from Chavez at the 6:45 mark.
Whiteface answered with two free throws from Hannah Blankenship and a layup from Ayers.
Lady Panther Tyler Parkinson’s basket followed by an extra free throw made the score 31-24 in the Lady Lopes’ favor.
That’s when Whiteface caught fire. The Lady Lopes went on a 17-point run starting at the 5:50 mark for a 48-24 lead at the third quarter buzzer.
All that remained for Whiteface was to protect their lead through the fourth quarter. The Lady Panthers went cold from the floor, hitting only two baskets, although they went 8for-10 from the free throw line in the final period.
The Lady Lopes had three girls in double figures. Hannah Blankenship led all scorers with 16 points.
Rector had 11. Sanders and Olenga had 10 each. Ayers had seven. Emily Blankenship had six.
Morgan Waggoner had two. Whitharral’s Smith had 14 points. Chavez had seven. McCain had six. Kristinek had four. Parkinson had three. Coronado had two.
The Lady Lopes will be in Morton at 6:15 p.m. on Friday. The Lady Panthers will be in Meadow at 6 p.m. Both are district games.