Lady Mustangs punch ticket into area round

LONGVIEW, Texas - Storming out to a 24-point first half lead, the Hughes Springs Lady Mustangs managed to hold on for dear life, notching a 63-54 upset of the White Oak Ladynecks on Tuesday night at LeTourneau's Solheim Arena in Class 3A bi-district girls action.

Lady Mustang senior point guard Brianna Young, a a mid-term transfer, paved the way to victory with a game-high 28 points and a half dozen steals. She iced the game late after a furious Ladyneck rally by hitting four of six free throws.

Hughes Springs (15-16) advances to 3A area action and will Winnsboro at 6 p.m. Friday at Lobo Coliseum.

White Oak (21-12) got 21 points in a losing cause from junior sharpshooter Alysa Hall.

The Ladynecks, champions of District 16-3A, came in winners in 14 of their last 15 contests. It turnovers and lots of them which plagued the Ladynecks in a first half.

Hughes Springs, fourth-place representatives out of District 15-3A, made the most of 17 White Oak first half miscues and took a surprising 37-16 lead to the half. Young was able to outscore the Ladynecks all by herself in the first 16 minutes with 17 points.

White Oak trimmed away at the sizable deficit in the third as Hall drew a pair of fouls from beyond the arc and eventually drained eight of 10 free throws in the quarter as Hughes Springs saw its lead shrink to 42-34. This came after Ladyneck junior Payton Palmer rained in a trey from the baseline at 1:02.

Consecutive layups by Lady Mustang junior Adriana Kennedy, along with a three-point play, allowed for the lead to swell back to double figures at 45-34 heading to what wound up being a most exciting fourth period.

Hall opened the fourth by flushing a baseline three and drawing a foul in the process. She was unable to convert the free throw, but the Hughes Spring was back into double digits.

White Oak would hit its first six field goals in the final frame as sophomore Morgan Benge followed Hall's money with one of her own. Hughes Springs, which suffered only five first half turnovers, endured a total of 14 in the second half.

Senior Caitlin Jester converted a layup and added a steal and pull-up pop at 5:06 as the Ladynecks clawed within 49-44. Young stopped the run with a couple free throws before Hall canned a baseline jumper at 4:46.

White Oak junior Renee O'Kelley powered in a layup on an assist from Palmer at 4:09 to cut the margin to 51-48. Hall got a clean look at a three to tie midway of the fourth but the shot caromed long.

The Ladynecks failed to score the next three and a half minutes and the Lady Mustangs made good on four of eight free throws and senior Rylie Tenbrook came up big with a baseline layup at 1:55 to push the lead by to 55-48.

Young was joined in double digits by Kennedy (15) and Tenbrook (12) for Hughes Springs.

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