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WEB EXCLUSIVE: East comes full circle: Lady Panthers run down Lady Broncos for playoff berth
BY Matt Welch, mwelch@starlocalnews.com
McKINNEY -- In their first meeting against McKinney Boyd on Jan. 15, an 0-4 Plano East girls basketball team posted a 52-46 for their first District 10-5A win.
Just 17 days later, the Lady Panthers replicated that feat with a 54-49 win Friday over the Lady Broncos.
Only this time, the end result was a playoff berth.
Despite being the team's Senior Night, the Lady Broncos (11-18, 2-7) had a tough time feeding off the emotions of the contest and only led for three minutes. Senior Micaela Gonzalez knocked down a 3-pointer with three minutes remaining in the first for an 8-7 lead that would build to 14-7 before East (14-18, 4-5) made it 14-14 by quarter's end following a bank shot by junior Letty Bornstad.
"We just didn't have any energy tonight," said Rochelle Vaughn, Boyd head coach. "For it being the last home game for our seniors, we just didn't have anyone step up. I'm not sure why because we expected lots of energy and emotion tonight."
It was all Lady Panthers from there.
Sophomore Aareonce Austin scored on a putback 20 seconds into the second quarter for a 16-14 lead that East didn't relinquish.
Bornstad, who scored 12 points and grabbed six boards in the win, later added a 3-ball and senior Kennedy Munson converted an and-1 for a 22-16 edge. Munson and Austin spearheaded an up-tempo East attack predicated on transition offense. The heightened pace wore on Boyd as the game progressed, with Austin dishing out seven assists in addition to scoring five points and Munson scoring a team-high 14 points as the Lady Panthers carried a 28-24 edge into halftime.
"Our team's mostly just guards outside of (senior) Jordan Welch," Morrow said, "so that makes it much easier for us to run the floor like we did today."
Welch chipped in plenty as well, scoring seven points in the first quarter to pace a 12-point, seven-rebound outing for the forward. The Lady Broncos failed to keep pace, despite forcing 15 turnovers. While its press and manic double team scuttled East plenty during the first go-around, the Lady Panthers' quick-trigger ball movement went a ways toward negating any sustained pressure by Boyd on Friday.
"That was our key," Morrow said. "To make sure we didn't get stuck on the sidelines, we narrowed the court, which made for spacing and didn't let them get us in trouble."
East expanded its cushion to as much as 49-36 with 5:22 remaining in the fourth following a layup by Welch.
The Lady Broncos closed the game on a 13-5 run that proved too little too late.
Junior Haley Carruthers led the way for Boyd with 14 points as the team's lone double-digit scorer. Seniors Mariah Richardson and Julia Hendrieth scored eight and seven points, respectively, in the 54-49 loss.
"Give East credit," Vaughn said. "They made some big shots and it seemed like anytime we would cut into their lead, they'd find a way to make something. They had momentum and they played harder than we did."
The Lady Broncos now find themselves in a must-win situation Tuesday at 6 p.m. at McKinney, which is currently fourth at 3-6 in district. East will only be concerned with playoff seeding Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. when it hosts Plano West.
For continued news and coverage on the local sports scene, follow @MWelchSCN on Twitter.
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