Nazareth girls clamp down in second half to top Huckabay in Class 1A state championship
SAN ANTONIO — There was a touch of déjà vu Saturday in the Alamodome.
For the second consecutive game, the Nazareth girls basketball team found itself unable to find a rhythm on offense. That may be an understatement, as the Swiftettes went the first 10 minutes without a point.
Again, Nazareth's defense kept the group within striking distance. Again, the Swiftettes' offense caught up to its counterpart.
And again, Nazareth is the top team in Texas.
The Swiftettes held No. 1 Huckabay to six points in the second half en route to a 30-20 win in the Class 1A state championship. It's the 25th title for the most decorated program in the UIL.
No. 7 Nazareth (31-9) had a similar start in Thursday's semifinal against Neches, netting 21 points on 36% shooting in the first half.
"I don't know, I guess we need to be a little bit better offensively early on. I don't know, making it interesting," Swiftettes coach Eric Schilling quipped. "We know we're going to see everybody's best shot."
The way the defense was playing, Nazareth didn't need to get much going to pull ahead. Huckabay (40-3) shot 19.4% overall and committed 16 turnovers.
Still, compared to its foe, Huckabay got off to a fast start. The team scored the game's first 10 points and led 14-9 at halftime. The tide shifted when the Swiftettes began knocking down shots, including three 3-pointers in the third quarter.
It started with a Presley Wheeler trey eight seconds into the second half. The championship MVP scored eight of her nine points in the period as Nazareth took control.
Wheeler's second 3-pointer gave the Swiftettes their first lead at 17-14. Huckabay was on its way to its own scoreless quarter before a halfcourt heave by Chayni Chamberlain halted Nazareth's 13-0 run.
Huckabay didn't score again until Rion Baccus' 3-pointer with 50 seconds remaining.
Baccus was coming off a 23-point outing in a semifinal win over Mertzon Irion County. She finished with a seven points on 2-of-10 shooting Saturday.
"It was a lot harder than I expected," Baccus said, "because they were up on us … I just felt like our shots didn't fall in the second half like they did the first. They have a really good defense."
Huckabay does too, but Nazareth generated enough to lift the trophy once more.
"Teenage kids, you never know how they're gonna handle it whenever, especially on a stage like this, when things aren't going their way," Schilling said. " … You never saw them panic. They never got flustered. They trusted themselves, they trusted each other. They trusted what we were asking them to do, and eventually they broke through, like they've done multiple times during this run."
Brooklyn Dyer led the Swiftettes with 10 points — all in the second half — and Brooklyn Birkenfeld added eight. But it was the defense that will be remembered in Nazareth's latest championship chapter. The 20 points allowed are fourth-best in 1A state tournament history. The Swiftettes own the top two marks as well.
"Whenever you've got everybody that's bought into that defensive mindset, it's pretty sweet as a coach," Schilling said. "You see it all come together. You see them fight for each other. … Just an unbelievable group, unbelievable talent, unbelievable kids that truly deserve this and have worked their tails off to get here."
Class 1A state championship
Nazareth 30, Huckabay 20
Nazareth 0 9 13 8 — 30
Huckabay 6 8 3 3 — 20
Nazareth (31-9) — Tatum Peterson 1, Brooklyn Dyer 10, Iris Schilderink 2, Brooklyn Birkenfeld 8, Presley Wheeler 9.
Huckabay (40-3) — Seren Fowler 4, Gracie McDowell 6, Rion Baccus 7, Chayni Chamberlain 3.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Nazareth girls clamp down to top Huckabay in Class 1A state championship
