Game of the night
DENTON — Denton Ryan led for less than 30 seconds of regulation Friday but rallied to force overtime and complete a season sweep of Argyle, 56-49.
Ryan senior forward Kinley Lewis — a James Madison signee — knocked down a midrange jumper to tie the contest at 44-all with five seconds left in the fourth quarter of the District 6-5A contest. The basket proved enough to force overtime at Ryan High after Argyle’s halfcourt heave fell short at the buzzer.
The Lady Raiders, ranked No. 2 in Class 5A by the TABC, won the overtime period 12-5 to clinch the outright district championship.
“We had to start believing in ourselves, and more importantly, believing in each other,” Lewis said. “When you get in a hard game like that, you can’t rely on yourself 1-on-5. You have to rely on your teammates. Playing team ball is what got us there.”
High School Sports
“I know I can elevate over anybody and I’m quicker than a lot of people. Just doing what I can to get the points.”
Lewis finished with 13 points, eight rebounds, three blocks and three steals to help lead Ryan, including a team-best five points in the overtime period.
Argyle (27-5, 9-2 in district), a 5A Division II regional finalist last season, went up 48-46 with 2:31 left in the four-minute overtime period after a pair of layups by Lexi Ehrhardt and Emma King. Ryan (30-4, 11-0), the defending 5A Division I state champion, answered by taking its first lead since the first quarter on an Atiya Everett 3-pointer with 2:21 to play in overtime.
Everett’s basket sparked a 10-0 Ryan run over the next two minutes and change to pull out of reach.
The junior guard played through an injury to her non-shooting elbow for much of the contest but posted nine points, four assists and two steals. Her crucial triple helped Ryan lock up its first outright district title since 2023-24 after sharing the 6-5A crown with Argyle last year, when the pair had matching 11-1 marks in district play.
“I’m going to be all right, but just had to fight through,” Everett said. “My teammates needed me, so I showed up and stepped up to the plate.”
Incarnate Word signee Zaviyana Madison paced Ryan with 15 points, four assists and four steals, including six combined points in the fourth quarter and overtime. SMU signee Kaylin Jackson added four points, six rebounds and five blocks before fouling out late in the fourth quarter.
Argyle junior Lexi Ehrhardt scored a game-high 20 points, including seven of the Lady Eagles’ nine points in the fourth quarter. Emma King added 14 points with eight of them coming after halftime.
Argyle is set to be 6-5A’s top seed for the 5A Division II playoff bracket and will face either Saginaw or Fort Worth Chisholm Trail in the bi-district round, which will be held on Feb. 15-16.
Ryan has secured 6-5A’s top seed for the 5A DI playoff bracket and will begin its state title defense Tuesday, Feb. 16 against Granbury. Time and location for the contest are to be announced.
“If you want to hang another banner, you have to be able to dig and you have to be able to fight,” Ryan coach Monesha Allen said. “I just asked that they believe and keep working, and good things will happen.”
— John Fields, Denton Record-Chronicle
Spotlight on
GRAND PRAIRIE — South Grand Prairie started hot on Friday night against crosstown rival Grand Prairie, but it secured its 52-49 road win in the fourth quarter.
After South Grand Prairie (19–10) opened the game on a 6-0 run and ended the first quarter with a 16-9 advantage, Grand Prairie (23–4) went on 17-9 run in the second quarter to take a 26-25 halftime lead. SGP reclaimed the lead with around 2:30 to go in the game after trailing through the third quarter.
Jacobi Ewing’s putback with under a minute to go in the contest punctuated South Grand Prairie’s win. Ewing finished with a team-high 19 points and hit three shots from behind the arc in the battle of two state-ranked teams.
With the win, South Grand Prairie improved to 10–1 in District 8-6A, putting it in a tie with Grand Prairie for first place. Just three more games remain for each team in district play.
Grand Prairie, which surged in The Dallas Morning News’ latest area poll, entered the week as the state’s 14th-ranked 6A team. South Grand Prairie, also in The News’ poll, wasn’t far behind at No. 16 in the state.
But South Grand Prairie was the better team Friday, as it avenged its 66-52 loss to Grand Prairie that came earlier in district play.
— Myah Taylor
Victorious departure: See photos from South Grand Prairie’s win over Grand Prairie
View GalleryFriday’s top performersGirls
Maci Pringle, Flower Mound: Pringle scored a game-high 19 points in Flower Mound’s 49-38 win over Coppell.
Amaya McDonald, Denton Braswell: She recorded 18 points in Braswell’s 61-20 victory over Hebron.
Simone Richmond, Allen: Richmond helped Allen hold off McKinney Boyd 62-60 with a team-high 23 points.
Charlotte Cavin and Kaylei Thornton, Frisco Wakeland: Cavin and Thornton each recorded double-doubles in a 58-53 win over Frisco Lone Star that clinched the district championship. Cavin finished with 29 points and 10 rebounds, while Thornton recorded 17 points and 12 boards.
Pressley Powell and Payton Jones, Frisco Memorial: In a 54-28 win over Frisco Liberty, Powell dominated with a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double. Jones scored 13 points.
Boys
JaCori Jones, Denton Braswell: The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi pledge scored 19 points in Braswell’s win over Hebron.
Moustafa Abualneel, Plano East: He scored 17 points as Plano East edged McKinney 45-40.
Benji Berrouet, McKinney Boyd: In an upset 70-60 win over state-ranked Allen, Berrouet exploded for a game-high 31 points.
Stat Sheet
32
The amount of points McKinney Boyd’s Savannah Heihn scored against Allen in a narrow 62-60 loss. Despite Boyd’s loss, it was Heihn who boasted the game-high in points.
2
Points allowed by McKinney North over the second and third quarters of its 32-21 win over Melissa.
2,000
The number of career points Frisco Wakeland junior Charlotte Cavin now has after a 58-53 win over Frisco Lone Star.
1,797
The number of career points Denton Braswell’s JaCori Jones has after Friday’s win over Hebron. He became Braswell’s all-time leading scorer with that mark.
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