Texas High remained in control of second place in the District 16-5A girls basketball standings at the midway point with a thrashing of Greenville.
The Lady Tigers led by 21 points before the Lady Lions managed their second field goal, THS was up 33 at halftime and the defense never allowed double digits in any quarter during a 74-24 rout Friday at Tiger Center.
After the first quarter Texas High had already attempted more shots (33) than Greenville would attempt (29) the entire game. The Tigers were 21-of-58 shooting in the first half and 12 of 28 after intermission to finish 33 of 86 for a 38 shooting percentage.
"We've talked about the maturity we've gained, just by being juniors and sophomores," Texas High coach Craig Collvins said. "They're figuring it out that even when the score is lop-sided, they're still trying to do the right things, our shot selection's good, they're playing for one another and they're not taking a half off just because the score is one-sided."
Texas High (19-4, 5-1) also held the lop-sided advantage in rebounding (50-25) and forced 32 turnovers while committing just nine.
The Lions (8-14, 2-4) shot 31 percent on 9 of 29 from the field.
Every Tiger scored after Brittany Kile had a fast-break layup with 3:20 left in the game, and Vicki Willis drained a 3-pointer at 2:10 for what turned out to be the final points of the contest.
Sadeya Finley turned in a double-double for THS, pouring in 11 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. Amiyah Rone had a game-high 13 points, and Antonia Porter and Kerrighan Dunn contributed 11 points each for the Tigers. Unique McBride also had nine points.
Texas High jumped out to a 13-0 lead and were up 24-3 before a 3-pointer by the Lions with 10 seconds left in the first quarter. Shortly into the second quarter the Tigers were up 31-5 and 35-9, and they closed the half on an 8-0 run to take a 47-14 advantage into halftime.
While Texas High was content to wait for open looks and high percentage shots in the second half, the team continued to hold a high intensity on defense, limiting Greenville to 10 total points in the second half.
Texas High won the junior varsity game, 52-37, with Ashlyn Stiger (16 points) and Amari Morrison (15) combining for 31 points for the Tigers. Greenville won the freshman game, 31-28. Lauren George scored 14 points for THS.
#
Greenville 5 9 5 5 - 24
Texas High 24 23 13 14 - 74
GREENVILLE (24): Gilmore 1 0-0 2, Barrett 3 0-0 6, Beachem 2 1-4 5, Darter 1 1-2 4, Best 2 1-2 7, TOTALS 9-29 3-8 24.
THS (74): N. Wilson 1 0-0 2, Morrison 2 0-0 4, Finley 5 1-1 11, Willis 1 0-0 3, Porter 4 0-0 11, Kile 1 0-0 2, McBride 4 0-0 9, Rone 6 1-1 13, M. Wilson 1 0-0 2, Dunn 5 0-2 11, Mitchell 1 0-0 2, Miller 2 0-0 4, TOTALS 33-86 2-4 74.
3-point goals: GNV-Best 2, Darter; THS-Porter 3, Willis, McBride, Dunn. Team fouls: Greenville 10, Texas High 10.