Thursday, March 28, 2024

Argyle girls complete three-peat

(Photo by Caleb Miles)

The Argyle girls basketball program earned “dynasty” status after winning its third consecutive Class 4A state championship on Saturday night, defeating Liberty Hill 40-30.

“We were playing a really good team, a team that knows us very well. We’ve beaten them two times,” said Argyle Head Coach Skip Townsend.

Argyle began the first quarter off strong with a three made by freshman Brooklyn Carl (11). At 2:39 Jocelyn Pierce (10) pushed for two and successfully made it to the basket making the score 5-0. With two minutes left in the first quarter Liberty Hill’s Sedona Prince (23) added points to the board by making a successful jumper, followed by a layup making the score 5-4 . In the final seconds of the first quarter Liberty Hill’s Kandyn Faurie (32)  drained a contestable three pointer in the final seconds ending the first quarter at 7-7.

“They don’t let you make mistakes,” said Coach Chris Lange of the Liberty Hill Lady Panthers.

Starting the second quarter off rocky, Liberty Hill’s Andrea House (03) fouled on Carl (11) giving her two free throw attempts and successes bringing the score to 9-7. After the Eagles’ defensive rebound and a foul on Prince (23) the Panthers called a timeout with 3:34 left on the clock in the first half. A defensive rebound by Vivian Gray (12) at late in the second quarter and a pass out set Standifer (33) up to shoot a successful three. With one second left on the clock, Standifer (33) made a three, ending the second quarter with the Lady Eagles up 17-13.

“We had one goal in mind and that was to make state again and win the state championship,” Standifer said.

The second half began with just as much intensity as the first. Gray (12) pulled in an offensive rebound and put up a layup which made the score 19-13. The Panthers went on to foul twice, which brought Madison Ralston (22) to the line to shoot two successful free throws. With two seconds left, Prince (23) missed a three that left the score at 28-22 in Argyle’s favor.

“This year, every practice has been ten times more intense. We just took it game by game,” Pierce said.

During the fourth period, the Panthers strived to match the Eagles’ lead. Liberty Hills’ Bethany McLeod (10) started off by making a layup, which was answered immediately by another three from Standifer (33).  After a timeout by the Eagles, Liberty Hills’ Kasye Bevers (10) fouled Sophie Betzhold (14) . Gray made two more free throws with one second left on the board, which brought an end to her high school career and pushed the Lady Eagles to 40 points and the win.

Senior Vivian Gray earned the state tournament MVP award.

“I think the feeling is better this year because we are going out on a win. That is what we have wanted to do since we were freshmen, we have always wanted to win a State Championship, we got the three-peat and we were legendary,” Gray said.

CTG Staff
CTG Staff
The Cross Timbers Gazette News Department

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