PARIS, Texas-Wylie East's leading scorer Shelli Thigpen was shocked to hear all five of Texas High's starters in Monday's 5A bi-district playoff basketball game at Paris High School were sophomores.
Texas High (14-15), the fourth-place team from District 16-5A, stunned the 15-5A co-champion Wylie East Lady Raiders for nearly two quarters, building a 12-point lead.
The Lady Tigers' momentum changed dramatically with Wylie East (24-6) went on a 10-0 run the final 90 seconds of the first half, and then held THS with no field goals for nearly 10 minutes in the second half en route to a 57-43 victory.
"We started fast, but what kind of started the downfall was their great free throw shooting," THS coach Craig Collvins. "If you look at the first half you have to give credit to Antonia Porter, she was lights out. She scored all of our first-half points, except eight."
The 5-foot-8 Porter scored 21 points, including four treys, in the first 14 minutes of the game as Texas High built a 20-8 lead.
That's when Raider sophomore guard Mary Nyakundi scored six straight points to cut the Tigers' lead down to 29-27 at intermission.
Texas High was in big-time foul trouble in the second half, and Nyakundi warmed up outside with three treys, finishing with a team-high 15 points. Thigpen added 11 points and 12 rebounds, with Morgan Lee scoring 11.
"I thought we played good defense, with Antonia doing her thing at the offensive end," Collvins said. "The most surprising stat of the game was that we played them even on the boards. We haven't been the best rebounding team all year. You could tell Vicki Willis, Maranda Miller were hitting the glass hard."
Both teams had 30 rebounds, Kiasyia Morrison leading the Tigers with eight, while Willis and Miller grabbed seven each.
The Raiders' first lead of the game came with 4:09 left in the third quarter when Morgan Lee buried a 3-pointer. They had tied the score on a Thigpen layup with 5:02 remaining.
Texas High's only points from 7:25 in the third quarter until 4:38 left in the game, came from the free throw line.
A more intensive defensive effort by the Raiders, and foul trouble, limited Porter to three points in the second half. She finished with a game-high 24. No other Tiger scored more than five.
Twenty turnovers, most coming late, hurt the Tigers. Wylie East only had 10 miscues.
"I thought we wore down a little at the end," Collvins said. "There's not many people in this gym tonight that thought we could play them as close as we did. The girls accepted the challenge."
Wylie East advances to the area round to play Prosper or Frisco Wakeland.
Texas High 20 9 5 9 - 43
Wylie East 10 17 14 16 - 57
THS (43): Willis 1 0-0 2; Porter 8 4-5 24; McBride 0 2-2 2; Wilson 1 2-2 4; Lloyd 2 0-0 4; Miller 1 0-0 2, TOTALS 14 10-13 43.
WE (57): Westerfield 3 0-0 7; Lee 2 6-7 11; Pierson 2 2-4 6; Jefferson 0 1-2 1; Nyakundi 6 3-5 15; Mae. Lee 1 2-2 4; Thigpen 3 5-6 11, TOTALS 17 19-26 57.
3-point goals: THS-Porter 4, Wilson. WE-Nyakundi 3, Westerfield , Mo. Lee. Team fouls: Texas High 23, Wylie East 13.