By Brian Gosset
X – @gosset41
X – @gmsportsmedia1

CARROLLTON – Maci Pringle, Brooklyn Gray and the Flower Mound Jaguars built a comfortable second-half lead before holding off a fourth-quarter rally to upset Plano East 50-44 in their Class 6A D1 bi-district contest on Monday night at Hebron HS.

The Jags (25-8) will face South Grand Prairie (22-12) in the area round later this week. SGP defeated Richardson on Monday. Meanwhile, Plano East came in #15 in the 6A state rankings and won an undefeated district title in 6-6A.

However, the Panthers’ season came to an end with a 28-8 record.

“The whole season has been a grind,” said Pringle, one of the top 2027s in the country. “Just a good team win. I’m proud of everybody and we’re ready to go with South Grand Prairie.”

Flower Mound led 25-21 at the intermission, but came out on fire in the third quarter. A four-point lead quickly turned into nine with 6:35 on the clock. The Jags then got up double digits before the Panthers pulled within eight on a steal and Hailey Reed layup.

Gray hit a three-pointer from the wing and Flower Mound led 40-29 after the third.

The Panthers made a push in the final stanza. 2028 guard Arianna Robinson, also among the best players in the country, got Plano East within five following back-to-back steals. She then hit from 15 feet and the deficit was just three with 1:29 remaining.

Flower Mound posted an offensive rebound and Pringle knocked down a jumper to make it and five and the Panthers ran out of gas as the Jags won a bi-district championship for the second straight year.

They reached the regional semifinals last year before ending their season against North Crowley.

“The scouting report had Arianna shooting mid range and I feel like the majority of the night, we did that. Plus we rebounded and the kids followed the scouting report to a tee,” said Flower Mound coach Sherika Nelson, who surpassed 400 career wins in December.

“They played their hearts out and it was a physical game. Our district prepared us for a night like tonight. We have one of the toughest districts in the state. The kids were resilient.”

Flower Mound went 9-5 in District 5-6A and finished in third place behind Braswell and Coppell. At one point this season, Braswell, Coppell and Flower Mound were all state ranked. Braswell, district champ, is currently #16 in 6A.

Guyer made it five teams in that district with a winning record.

“You have to deal with that constant pressure every night,” Pringle said about district. “Our district is super hard, we finished third, but it made us a better team overall.”

Gray hit three 3-pointers and scored a team-high 20 points. Pringle added 15. Robinson led Plano East with a game-high 30 points and scored 17 in the second half.

Nelson also praised the pressure from her defense during the whole game.

“They know to keep the motor going,” Nelson said. “That fourth quarter felt like 16 minutes not 8 minutes, but we took it possession by possession and got rebounds late which helped us out tremendously.”

Pringle suffered a blow to her nose and played the second half with a bandage.

But she said she felt the pain initially, however pushed through to help the Jaguars to victory.

“Of course I felt the pain, but what’s bigger – I had to do whatever to help the team. Got a lot of rebounds and pushed the ball in transition. I put my trust in my trainers and my teammates to keep me going.”

Added Pringle about Flower Mound’s non-stop defense, “[It caught Plano East off guard]. You can see all you want on film, but we’re going to make you play when you play us.”

GIRLS FINAL
6A D1

Flower Mound 50
#15 Plano East 44

FM advances vs SGP in area. Jags snap Panthers 14 game win streak (28-8, first loss since 12/29)

East was 16-0 6-6A champ pic.twitter.com/eLlTijKQS7

— Brian Gosset (@Gosset41) February 17, 2026