Two Central Texas girls basketball teams are back in the state’s final four and a third team is looking for its first state championship as the state playoffs head to this week’s state semifinals.
Westlake, Cedar Park and Glenn each won their respective regional final games over the weekend, advancing to the state semifinals, while Bowie and Lago Vista fell short.
Westlake (39-0), looking to win its fourth state championship in school history, faces Pearland Shadow Creek in Tuesday night’s Class 6A DII state semifinals in Brenham. Cedar Park (26-10), making its fourth appearance in the state’s final four in the last five years, plays powerful Mont Belvieu Barbers Hill (36-3) in a Class 5A DII semifinal while Glenn (34-3) mathes up with La Porte in a Class 5A DI semifinal doubleheader Tuesday in Mumford.
The state championship games are this weekend in San Antonio; Westlake (7 p.m.), Cedar Park (1 p.m.) and Glenn (11 a.m.) all would play their title games Saturday at the Alamodome.
Tamia King’s 16 points, nine rebounds and seven assists powered Westlake’s 61-38 win over Converse Judson. Glenn’s Libby Lee scored 26 points and Ariel Goppy and CeCe Fournoy-Walker each had 14 to help the Grizzlies get some revenge for last year’s bi-district playoff loss to San Antonio Wagner. And Cedar Park, which is Glenn’s District 23-5A rival, used a balance scoring attack and solid defense to beat Kerrville Tivy 41-33.
Vandegrift and Dripping Springs retained the top spots in their Class 6A districts while Hutto had its most successful week on the pitch in school history as the Hippos beat state-ranked Round Rock and Westwood. Defending state champion Cedar Park played to a fierce 2-2 draw with talented Leander while Hendrickson beat Georgetown for the second time in 23-5A play. Anderson shocked previously unbeaten McCallum 1-0 in 24-5A.
District 25-6A: Vandegrift won twice last week, beating McNeil and Cedar Ridge to take a two-match lead in district after both Round Rock and Westwood took losses from Hutto. Vandegrift beat McNeil on a goal by Ella Shahinian and two by Eva Pensamiento while Kaitlyn Chee had two assists and Shahinian added one. In the 3-0 win over Cedar Ridge, goals were scored by Shahinian, Jacky Dashnaw and Annelise Miller while Pensamiento had two assists. … Hutto’s back-to-back wins over Round Rock and Westwood were the first consecutive wins over state-ranked teams in school history.
District 26-6A: Dripping Springs (14-1-4, 8-0-2) beat Lake Travis 2-0 on goals by Bailey Stephenson and Annabelle Pittman recorded her 14th shutout. Earlier, the Tigers defeated Bowie 1-0 on a goal by Stephenson. … Westlake beat Bowie 2-1 on goals by Emma Terrell and Mia Hocker.
In Class 5A: Hendrickson beat Georgetown for the second time in district, winning 3-0 on goals by Brea Lewis, Zahria Fuller, and Amaya Lee.
In Class 4A: Wimberley pounded Fredericksburg 5-0 behind Lilli Sandoval’s three-goal hat trick and solo goals from Dylan Watson and Emma Durkin, who also had a three-assists hat trick.
Hendrickson, Weiss, East View and Dripping Springs continue to have strong seasons and Vista Ridge had a huge 6-4 district-opening win over favored Round Rock in District 25-6A. Dripping Springs, East View and Vista Ridge all notched early district wins while other Austin-area teams move into full district play this week.
Weiss beat Westlake last Tuesday and then went 4-0-2 at the inaugural Pflugerville ISD Tournament. Weiss standout Jordynn Booe, a Texas Longhorns signee, made the all-tournament team after going 11-for-14 for a .786 batting average with two home runs, 14 runs scored and 13 RBIs. She didn’t strike out once in six games.