Plano East senior Nariah Witherspoon (25) maintains her balance as she surveys the court for her next move Monday at Hebron High School. Photo by Andy Redmond / C&S Media
By Justin Thomas
CARROLLTON — The season came to an unexpected close for Plano East’s girls basketball team Monday as the Lady Panthers were eliminated in the bi-district round of the Class 6A Division I playoffs by Flower Mound, 50-44.
East, ranked No. 15 in the state by the Texas Girls Coaches Association, was coming off a perfect run through District 6-6A competition and had not lost a game since Dec. 27.
But Monday was not East’s finest hour, as Flower Mound took a 10-8 lead late in the first quarter it would never relinquish.
“We hadn’t faced a lot of adversity coming down the stretch,” said Derrick Richardson, East head coach. “I feel like that’s probably the toughest team we’ve faced since Christmas. It was a high-level basketball game and it was really physical and it just took us a while to really get going.”
East was paced by 30 points from sophomore Arianna Robinson and eight from senior Hailey Reed, while Flower Mound was powered by 20 points from Brooklyn Gray and 15 from Maci Pringle.
Pringle also chipped in 12 rebounds, three blocks and three steals for a Flower Mound squad that controlled the boards for much of the night, despite a team-high seven rebounds from East’s Nariah Witherspoon.
“We weren’t hitting shots early and at the end of the day, Flower Mound just made more plays than we did,” Richardson said. “Rebounding was a point of emphasis for us. They have a lot of size, and they have one of the best athletes in the country. It makes it tough and is tough to plan for and simulate in practice.”
Flower Mound’s lead grew to as many as 14 midway through the fourth quarter at 47-33 before East staged a furious rally.
A basket and a pair of free throws from Robinson reduced the deficit to 10 before a hoop by Madeline Bankhead and five more points from Robinson suddenly had East within striking distance at 47-44 with 1:11 remaining.
East then appeared to have forced a turnover, but instead a kicked ball was called, keeping possession with Flower Mound, which increased the lead back to five on a basket by Pringle off an offensive rebound.
“That’s who we have become through the season,” Richardson said. “We’re always going to fight and battle and I’m super proud of them for that. That’s exactly what I told the team after the game. We kept fighting and gave ourselves a chance at the end and if we were able to get that kick ball and get it down to one, who knows what could happen.”
With the win, Flower Mound advances to the area round, where it will face the winner between South Grand Prairie and Richardson.