By Robert Morgan | Published Sunday, February 22, 2009
For three quarters Monday night against Southlake Carroll, the Northwest High School girls' basketball team could not get anything going. The locals shot just 22 percent from the floor, turned the ball over 15 times and trailed by 12 points with eight minutes left in the game.
That's where the Class 5A big-district playoff game finally got started for the Lady Texans. Unfortunately, they found their rhythm a minute too late as their rally came up short in a 50-47 loss in Saginaw.
Trailing 39-27 after three quarters, Northwest got the late push it needed to make the Dragons fight for what they wanted. NHS senior post Shauntal Nobles, who was contained most of the night, scored nine points in the fourth quarter to lead the rally.
Southlake's decision to stall with an eight-point lead and four minutes left in the game played right into Northwest's plans. The Lady Texans pulled within six points with 1:10 left in the game when Priscia Kibibi buried a three-pointer from the baseline.
Northwest got another trey from Kibibi and a basket by Erica Terneus to make it a one possession game with 37 seconds left to play. Southlake turned the ball over, and Nobles made them pay when she swished a pair of free throws to tie the game 47-47 with 30 seconds remaining which sent the Northwest crowd into a frenzy.
Both teams traded missed shots before the Dragons delivered the dagger. Kellie Bennett nailed her third three-pointer of the night with five seconds on the clock to give Southlake a three-point edge.
Northwest coach Arnold Parker called his final time-out to set up for the last shot, but it failed when Dee Dee Jones's 20-foot heave fell short at the buzzer.
Northwest, the second-place team in District 5-5A, finishes its year at 19-11 overall after making it to the playoffs for the third straight year. Southlake, the third-place team from District 6-5A, is now 20-13 and will face Plano West this weekend in the area title game.
The first two minutes of the game were scoreless as both teams struggled to find the bottom of the net.
Terneus ended the scoring silence when she hit a short jumper to give NHS a 2-0 edge with 5:43 to go in the first quarter. The bucket caught the attention of the Dragons who scored 10 unanswered points, including a pair of three-pointers, to make it a 10-2 game.
Terneus scored again when she netted a lay-up with 1:38 left in the first quarter. Southlake, however, answered with two more three-pointers from Monica Pillow and Kelli Bennett to make it 18-14.
Nobles, who leads the Lady Texans in scoring and rebounding, was held to just one point in the first quarter thanks in part to the defensive work of Christie Groh. The junior post denied any passes into the paint, which allowed Southlake to take an 18-5 lead.
That proved to be the biggest lead of the night as both teams traded baskets through the second and third quarters. Northwest cut into the deficit in the second quarter thanks to a pair of baskets from Karli Moore, and it was a three-pointer by Jones that made it a 25-16 ball game.
The Lady Texans did not get any closer as Southlake scored on a pair of turnovers to take a 29-18 halftime lead.
Southlake grabbed its biggest lead of the night at 35-21 early in the third quarter when the Lady Texans struggled offensively. In fact, Nobles hit a free throw with 1:53 left in the third quarter for only her team's third point of the quarter.
Jones hit a late trey to pull NHS within 12 points at the end of the third quarter at 39-27. That set the stage for the furious rally in the last eight minutes of the game.
Nobles led all scorers with 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Priscia Kibibi posted nine points - all from the three-point line. Dee Dee Jones posted eight points and five assists, and Erica Terneus had six points. Also scoring were Moore with four, Morgan with three and Gen Zulueta with two.
Bennett was the leader for Southlake with 12 points, two more than Monica Pillow with 10. Makenzie Burnett finished with nine points, while Caitlin Barrett had eight, Deborah Chandler had six, Mary Morrison had three and Christie Groh had two.
