Ballinger knocks off Wichita Falls City View for first area-round win since 2008

HASKELL – It’s not often you see a team cut down a net after a second-round playoff win.

Yet, that’s exactly what the Ballinger girls basketball team did after beating Wichita Falls City View 56-46 in a Region I-3A area playoff game Thursday night at Haskell High School.

This one’s been a long time coming for the Lady Cats, who hadn’t won a second-round playoff game since beating Mason 52-39 in 2008.

Ballinger was 0-8 in area playoff games since then – until Thursday night. And this is a Lady Cats program that has appeared in the playoffs ever year since then, except 2013.

So, yeah, they celebrated.

“These seniors have worked so hard for this,” Ballinger coach Kinzee Willis said. “The last time Ballinger won an area championship they were in diapers. It’s something they’ve been really wanting to do.”

Each girl cut a snip of the net, before Willis finished it off.

“In all of our girls sports, we’ve just had a hard time getting past the second round,” Willis said. “So, you don’t normally see (teams cutting the net in the second round), but it’s special for them. I’m happy for them.”

Emma Perkins scored 16 points, while Addison Martin followed with 12 and Jessa Battle had 11 for the Lady Cats (22-12). Matilda Galvan also had nine.

Kyra Taylor led City View (22-11) with a game-high 19 points, and Ayawna Whiteside had 10.

Cats scratch it out

City View, the third seed from District 7, was coming off a stunning 48-39 victory over No. 14 Brock in the first around.

Yet the Lady Mustangs couldn’t quite match Ballinger’s success finding the basket, and the Lady Cats had a 4-1 advantage on 3-point goals.

It was a long 3 by Perkins at the buzzer that catapulted Ballinger to a 13-9 lead after the first quarter, after being down 5-2 early in a defensive battle.

The Lady Cats led 29-22 at halftime and never trailed.

They opened a nine-point lead (42-33) on Battle’s trey with 1:26 left in the third quarter. Ballinger held on for a 44 35 advantage going into the fourth quarter, and the Lady Cats hit 12-of-16 free throws in the final quarter to turn away City View.

The Lady Mustangs did get within six (49-43) on a Taylor trey with 1:08 to go but managed only three points the rest of the way while Ballinger converted 7-of-19 free throws.

Battle tested

Willis said City View was everything the scouting report said the Lady Mustangs would be, but she said playing in District 6-3A got her team ready – even as the fourth seed.

“They were tough,” Willis said. “They were physical, and they’re a good team. I think a lot of our ability to play tight games like this and to keep leads is because our district is so tough. Playing with the Wall’s, Jim Ned’s and Merkel’s got us ready for a time like this.”

Ironically, the last time Ballinger got past the second round, the Lady Cats faced Jim Ned in the third round – a game the Tuscola crew won 54-51. Jim Ned also ended Ballinger's season in the second round in 2011.

And that’s who Ballinger draws in the third round this time with a berth in the region tournament Feb. 24-25 at Wolfforth Frenship at stake. The Lady Cats play Jim Ned at 8 p.m. Monday in Winters.

Rematch with rivals

No. 2 Jim Ned (30-1) beat Breckenridge 42-30 on Thursday at Eula High School.

“That will be fun,” Willis said about a rematch with her district rival, which beat Ballinger 65-33 on Dec. 16 in Tuscola and 48-19 on Jan. 20 in Ballinger.

Willis knows it will be tough to bring down a Jim Ned team that has lost only to Class 5A Abilene Cooper and has reeled off 25 straight wins since.

“Jim Ned is as advertised,” Willis said. “We know that. They’re well-coached. They’re skilled. They’re everything that everyone says they are, but we are going to go out there and give them everything we’ve got.

“Luckily, we have two games against them that we can use, and we’ve really gotten better in the last half of district. Regardless of who it is, we’re going to go out and compete and play our best and hope we go to the region tournament. We’ll see.”

The Ballinger girls know their history, and they’re ready to make more.

“Ballinger had some really, really good teams in the 2000s,” Willis said. “These girls look at those records. On the wall, it says all the things they’ve done, and they’ve seen that for a long time. So, I think seeing that and knowing that Ballinger can do that and be great, that we can do hard things, I think that’s what we’ve been doing all year and competing.”

REGION I-3A AREA PLAYOFF

Ballinger 56, W.F. City View 46

City View … 9 … 13 … 13 … 11 – 46

Ballinger … 13 … 16 … 15 … 12 – 54

WICHITA FALLS CITY VIEW (22-11) – Makayla Phillips 0 0-0 0, Kyra Taylor 5 8-11 19, Kenedee Pennington 1 2-5 4, Emarei Brandon 3 1-4 7, Ayawna Whiteside 1 8-8 10, Amani McKinney 2 0-0 4, Dakota Cave 0 0-0 0, Patricia Blackmon 0 0-0 0, Alyx Terrell 0 0-0 0, Chyree Pennington 0 2-2 2. Totals 12 21-30 46.

BALLINGER (22-12) – Mikaela Gonzalez 2 0-1 4, Matilda Galvan 2 5-7 9, Addison Martin 1 9-15 12, Jessa Battle 5 0-0 11, Maci Belk 0-0 0, Skyla Hostetter 1 0-0 3, Brianna Herrera 0 0-0 0, Emma Perkins 5 4-6 16, Emma Harrison 0 0-0 0, Ashtyn Wilson 0 0-0 0, Alexia Villarreal 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 18-29 56.

3-Point Goals – CV 1 (Taylor), Ballinger 5 (Martin, Battle, Hostetter, Perkins 2). Total Fouls – CV 23, Ballinger 21. Fouled Out – CV: None; Ballinger: Wilson. Technical Fouls – CV: McKinney; Ballinger: Galvan.

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Ballinger overcomes Wichita Falls City View in area basketball playoff