District-leading Vista Ridge girls dispatch Round Rock for seventh straight win
Vista Ridge sophomore Kianna Wormly doubled up with 24 points and 14 rebounds Friday night to lead the first-place Rangers to their seventh straight win, a 56-34 victory over host Round Rock.
“Kianna just did a wonderful job on the boards and finding the quick move to the basket. She played very well. Actually the entire team has really stepped up their play over the past several weeks,” Vista Ridge coach Keith Allen said.
Vista Ridge (20-8, 9-0) swarmed the ball with its full-court press and used a trapping man and area overlap zone defensive combination to take a 19-9 first-period lead. In the first six minutes, Sayler Bourland had three steals, Wormly had three and Alea Pinai added two as the Rangers pressured the Dragons into turnovers and got easy transition baskets.
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“We have really improved our pressure defense, and we are a very young team and not real tall, so good defense is what we need to even out the game,” Allen said.
Round Rock standout Bailey Featherstone scored seven of the Dragons' first-quarter points despite drawing intense defense throughout the contest.
The second quarter was point-for-point as Vista Ride never allowed the Dragons (21-9, 5-4) to cut the gap and held a 33-21 lead at the half.
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The Rangers' halftime defense adjustments were once again a game changer as they outscored Round Rock 12-4 in the third quarter. The Dragons got only a single basket by Featherstone and two free throws.
“We got a lot of players into the game as Round Rock is a playoff team and our players needed to see that speed," Allen said. "Our younger players responded very well.”
Wormly led all scorers with 24 points while Bourland added 11 and Pinai six for the Rangers. Bourland finished with four rebounds and seven steals, and Abby Seitz had eight rebounds and three steals. Featherstone led the Dragons with 15 points, and Deja Zuniga added 14. Macie Upshaw had 10 rebounds and two steals, and Gabby Edo had eight rebounds and two blocked shots.
Elsewhere
In other area games, first-place Pflugerville used a 28-6 first-quarter scoring run to beat Cedar Creek 88-19 while Georgetown stayed red-hot by beating Bastrop 81-22 and East View rebounded from its loss to Georgetown by beating Connally 58-18. Hendrickson beat Elgin 66-24; Niyah Waters led the Hawks with 17 points while Mikalah Buckley added 11 and Marissa Brewer finished with nine.
“It was a great team effort tonight,” Hendrickson coach Norma Sierra said.
Liberty Hill beat Rouse 53-26 while Burnet beat Lago Vista 53-34 as Zaria Solis scored 17 points and Grace Gates added nine for the Bulldogs. Caldwell beat Austin Achieve 47-9, and Eastside beat Crockett 36-31. McCallum, still unbeaten in district at 11-0, defeated Juan Navarro 44-37. Johnson beat Dripping Springs 53-51 while Austin High held off Bowie 48-29.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Wormly's big night lifts first-place Vista Ridge girls past Dragons
