Logan Heard, smothering defense lead Idalou past Bushland in regional quarterfinals
Logan Heard had a chance to show her future head coach the type of offensive standout he signed Monday night.
Heard, a West Texas A&M signee, scored 22 points while Idalou held Bushland superstar Emma Troxell to just seven as Idalou secured a 45-42 victory.
With the victory, the Lady Cats (25-12) advanced to the Region I-3A tournament to take on Jim Ned at 8 p.m. Friday at Frenship High School’s Tiger Pit. The Lady Falcons (27-7) are heading home.
Heard was outstanding on offense, scoring at all three levels, with Lady Buffs coach Josh Prock in attendance. It’s fair to say he liked what he saw, and so did her teammates and current coaching staff.
But the bigger story may well have been the outstanding team-defense Idalou applied to Troxell. One of the top players in the Panhandle, Troxell is a Division I signee with Abilene Christian. The Lady Cats kept her scoreless until five minutes remained in the third quarter and held her to just seven points in total while implementing a face-guard defense.
"I didn't realize she was only held to seven, but if you had told me that before the game I would have told you we had a pretty good chance to win," Idalou coach Tyler Helms said. "Really, we just guarded her with help. We have a senior that just does everything we ask her to do in Maddie Holmes and she did a good job. We have a freshman in Preslie Wall come in for a bit and did solid. We just rotated and helped as much as possible."
It was defensive slugfest throughout.
Idalou led 9-8 after the first quarter and 19-14 at halftime as both defenses refused to let up. Chloe Cochran's layup with 10 seconds left in the third managed to get Bushland within 29-26.
But Kira Fox sunk a buzzer-beating layup of her own to put Idalou up 31-26 at the end of the third quarter.
A three-pointer by Lily Moyers to open the fourth gave Idalou its biggest lead of the night at eight, but Bushland continued to put the pressure on.
The Lady Falcons got back to within a single possession multiple times in the final period, including after an acrobatic jumper by Troxell to cut it to 40-38 with 53 seconds left. Heard made five free throws down the stretch to cement the victory.
A buzzer-beating three-pointer by Brooklyn Boyett provided the final tally.
"It's easy to let the crowd get into your head, but really, I just think about practice," Heard said about her late free throws. "I thought about how much practice we put in and that's what gives me my confidence. I know it's hard to get in the moment, but I just trust God and I know he gives me strength in those moments. And he's why I was able to do those things."
For Bushland, it's an unfortunate end to an excellent season. The Lady Falcons lose four seniors, including Troxell, but there is still talent coming back.
"We've got good kids coming," Bushland coach Ty Mayfield said. "We'll be back. We have to replace four really good seniors who meant a lot to us. Three of them were three-year starters so they're going to be hard to replace. I feel like we've got good, young talent coming in. Our junior high is sound so we think we'll be here."
Class 3A girls playoff basketball regional quarterfinal
Idalou 45, Bushland 42
Bushland 8 6 12 16 — 42
Idalou 9 10 12 14 — 45
Bushland (27-7)
Troi Peart 2, Chloe Cochran 12, Kinsey Sims 3, Jada Permenter 4, Emma Troxell 7, Brooklyn Boyett 14
Idalou (25-12)
Karsyn Lutrick 2, Landrie Gregory 5, Lily Moyers 6, Maddie Holmes 2, Logan Heard 22, Kira Fox 8
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Logan Heard, smothering defense lead Idalou past Bushland in Region I quarterfinals
