Hays girls thrash Glenn in 'statement win' to stay perfect in District 25-5A race
Neela Castillo scored 22 points as Hays sent a powerful message Tuesday night with an impressive 65-32 win over Glenn in a District 25-5A battle for first place. The Hawks (30-5, 10-0) notched their 10th straight win while second-place Glenn fell to 23-5 overall and 8-2 in district.
Hays is No. 5 in the state polls; Glenn is No 14.
“This was a statement win for our team,” Hays coach Danney Preuss said. ”I challenged the team to step up, for everyone to play their best game, what would that feel like and how would they do — and that effort, especially on the defensive end, came into focus tonight in the second half.”
Hays led 15-10 after one quarter and 31-19 at the half, and coming out of the break the Hawks used the guard play of Castillo, Endia Stigall and Jivi Caceres to generate 22 takeaways as Hays outscored the host Grizzlies 14-5 in the third quarter and 20-8 in the fourth.
More: Our weekly girls basketball report has Austin High on a roll, plus player, team of the week
“The zone defense with our bigs allows the guards to interact and look for tip away balls and back door steals,” Preuss said. Castillo led Hays in scoring and added five rebounds and five steals while Stigall scored 12 points with five steals and Caceres had five points and six steals in a solid defensive effort.
“I am so proud of the way the whole team rose up against a really strong opponent,” Preuss said. "Both Maya and Megan had great games inside for us.”
Maya Pimentel had 12 points, five rebounds with three blocked shots while Megan Disu scored two points while adding eight rebounds, three blocked shots and four steals to the Hays cause.
Hays raced to an 8-2 lead to open the game, but Glenn fought back to 13-10 before Castillo hit two free throws at the end of the first quarter. Pimentel opened the second with back-to-back baskets as the Hawks had a 10-3 run to open the second quarter. After Glenn got back-to-back 3-point shots by Mariah Houston and Marissa Hernandez, Hays closed the period on a 6-0 run to take the 12-point halftime lead.
“We missed several opportunities in the first half — our focus was good, we just needed to close on the details in penetration and ball movement," Preuss said. "We talked about it at half time and they came out like it was a new game.”
More: District 26-6A sure looks loaded this year in Central Texas girls soccer
Crystal Jones scored the first basket of the third quarter for Glenn on a put-back, but Hays then scored the next 10 points as the Hawks' defense overwhelmed the Grizzlies. Houston led Glenn with 11 points while both Hernandez and Jones added eight each with Jones grabbing five rebounds. Somo Okolo nabbed seven rebounds for Glenn while Cindy Foka had six boards and Hooton added four steals and three rebounds.
In other district action, Liberty Hill kept pace by beating Leander 53-26 while Rouse got 12 points by Cadence Williams and 11 from Lily Gonzales to beat Lehman 50-22. Zariyah Harper added seven points for Rouse while Lilly Coronado had eight points for Lehman. Cedar Park beat Lockhart 77-55.
Other area updates
Austin High scored early and often in beating Johnson 61-17 behind 13 points each from Jade Clack and Shanel Reid. Clack added six rebounds with two assists and a blocked shot while Shanel had five steals and two assists with two rebounds. Peyton Freiermuth added 11 points and three assists while Senaida Barrientos scored 10 points with seven rebounds and Kemah Shaw had eight points, four steals and three rebounds.
In other district games, Lake Travis blasted Del Valle 66-18 by taking a 20-4 first-quarter lead and extending the lead to 35-9 at the half. Dripping Springs beat Akins 65-21 while Westlake retained its playoff berth by beating Anderson 47-24. The Chaps were led by Gianna Angiolet with 15 points while Kennedy Cannon and Bella Hesse added seven each with Kennedy collecting nine rebounds. Lovie Bien also had six rebounds for Westlake. Sabrina Sprangle finished with three blocked shots for Westlake.
McNeil got 29 points from Lauren Rowan and 20 more from Riley Samples as the Mavericks beat Manor 60-57 in a District 25-6A game with huge playoff implications. In other district games, Stony Point held on to second place by beating Vandegrift 37-19. Defensively, the Tigers limited the Vipers to single-digit scoring in all four quarters. Unbeaten and district-leading Vista Ridge used a 15-6 second-quarter scoring run to beat Cedar Ridge 45-30 while Round Rock defeated Westwood 67-54.
Hendrickson got 20 points from Niyah Waters to beat Cedar Creek 75-19. Amaya Edwards had 11 points for the Hawks while Mikalah Buckley and Marissa Brewer had 10 points each. East View beat Elgin 43-24 while first-place Pflugerville dominated Bastrop 95-15 and Georgetown beat Connally 71-2. McCallum beat LASA Austin 52-29 as Emy Chen scored 19 points and had seven steals while Sam Cowles had 10 boards and four assists. Sonya Peterson added four assists for the Knights.
Lampasas and Marble Falls are tied for the district lead after the Badgers beat Lago Vista 43-30 and the Mustangs beat Burnet 55-48. Taylor moved into first place in district action as the Ducks beat LaGrange while Smithville beat Manor New Tech 70-16 and Giddings defeated Austin Achieve. Wimberley beat Davenport 46-28.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Neela Castillo leads Hays past Glenn girls to remain on top in 25-5A
