Vista Ridge girls' season ends with second-round Class 6A loss to San Antonio Johnson
Talent and experience overcame talent and youth as San Antonio Johnson raced to an early lead and defeated District 25-6A champion Vista Ridge 68-41 Friday night in a Class 6A area round playoff game.
The Jaguars (28-9) will next play Cibolo Steele, which upset Austin High — the District 26-6A champion and the No. 1 team in the state — 52-51. Vista Ridge (26-9) closed its season having won 13 of its final 14 games.
“Vista Ridge is a very good team, well-coached and very talented, but we had the experience on them," Jaguars coach Stephanie Desmarais said. "We start seniors; they are sophomores; so we wanted to force the pace early and pressure them and to take advantage of our experience.”
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Johnson led 19-14 after a quarter, then extended the lead with a 17-9 second-quarter advantage and was up 47-29 after three quarters. Jaguars point guard Ja’Shelle Johnson scored 24 points with five steals and three rebounds, post Addison Iden scored 15 points with eight rebounds, and Julia Plata added 13 points. The Jaguars were district runners-up to highly regarded and nationally ranked San Antonio Clark, which eliminated Round Rock on Thursday.
Clark will play Lake Travis on Tuesday in regional quarterfinal action tipping off at 7 p.m. at Lehman High School.
“We missed a couple of layups early, had a couple of turnovers and made some mistakes we don’t normally make, and against a team as talented and experienced as (Johnson), it is hard to recover from that early hole,” Vista Ridge coach Keith Allen said.
His Rangers started three sophomores and play five sophomores and a freshman in their eight-player rotation.
Johnson opened quickly with a screen and roll by Iden, then added a free throw from Sydney Colleoni. Vista Ridge tied the game 3-3 when Kianna Wormly scored on a rebound and hit the and-one free throw. Sayler Bourland hit a free throw and Reagan Pavesi connected on a 10-foot jumper to give the Rangers a 6-3 lead. Then the Jaguars shifted gears offensively and staged a 7-0 run that was interspersed with four Vista Ridge turnovers. The Rangers closed to two points at 12-10, but Plata buried a 3-point shot for a five-point Johnson lead, and Vista Ridge never got closer.
Rangers sophomore post Kianna Wormly had a team-high 15 points and 12 rebounds while Abby Seitz had 11 points and six boards. Sayler Bourland added six points, and Alea Pinai had four. Regan Pavesi scored three points and had five steals and three rebounds.
Pflugerville, Hendrickson advance
In other local second-round playoff action, Pflugerville played to a 13-13 first-quarter tie with Killeen, then jumped past the Roos 56-32 the rest of the way for a 69-45 victory. Cpeeritt Plummer led the Panthers with 19 points while Jaida Gomez and Jordyn Watts had 14 each and Avari Berry added eight.
Meanwhile, Hendrickson crushed Montgomery 55-36 as Niyah Waters scored 16 points, Mikalah Buckley added 10 and both Maci Quiller and Miyah Carter finished with eight. Aliyah Carter had eight assists.
The other two district teams fell just short, however, as Georgetown lost to College Station 51-45 despite dominating most of the game and East View fell 45-36 to Montgomery Lake Creek.
Georgetown led 17-14 after a quarter but trailed 39-38 at the end of the third before falling back. The Eagles led in rebounding, points in transition, and most offensive and defensive categories, but the victorious Tigers hit twice as many free throws (20-10) and made five more free throws than the Eagles attempted.
Taylor Meyners and Erica Ramthun scored 12 points each for Georgetown. Chasidy Lee scored nine points with five rebounds while Madelyne Furr grabbed eight boards with eight steals, and Mckenzie Bernard added eight rebounds. Bella Dabbs and Reese Hoadley had four assists each.
Other area girls playoff results
Hays used the inside power and presence of Megan Disu to ravage San Antonio MacArthur 53-33. Disu doubled up with 15 points and 10 rebounds and added three steals, three assists and three blocked shots.
Thrall advanced in dramatic fashion as the Tigerettes led Mumford 29-28 in the closing seconds and Mumford got off a final shot that rimmed out at the buzzer, sending Thrall to the regional quarterfinals. Other local teams advancing were Salado, which beat Houston Worthing 62-36, and Marble Falls, which crushed Caldwell 77-15. Taylor lost to Waco Connally 55-33.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Vista Rdige girls basketball season ends with area playoff loss
