Wylie, Little ends Lady Eagles’ run

Posted on 22. Feb, 2011 by in Basketball (Girls), Decatur Lady Eagles, Uncategorized


By Richard Greene
A Little problem was a major problem for the Decatur Lady Eagles Tuesday night in the Class 3A Region I quarterfinal.
The Lady Eagles never found a way to slow down Abilene Wylie’s Peyton Little in a 62-37 loss at Tarleton State University’s Wisdom Gym in Stephenville.
Little poured in 34 points, hitting five three-pointers and going 15-for-17 at the free-throw line.
“She’s a special player,” said Decatur coach Billy Garner. “She can do it all. She can shoot, drive or pass. She makes everyone else better. I knew she was good watching her on video. She was even better in person.”
The loss ended the Lady Eagles’ season and closed the career of five seniors, including Jordan Alker, who fouled out with 11 points in final two minutes. Fellow senior Jaci Isham also fouled out with a minute left after scoring nine.
Garner talked to each of the seniors, who he brought off the floor before the final buzzer.
“I told them I was proud of them for all the hard work all year,” he said. “They deserved to be where they were. They’ve come a long ways, put in the work and it showed.”
Senior Macie Dane had three points in her final game.
“This was the best season ever because we went so far and I love my team,” she said.
Little scored 24 of her points in the first half, including all five of her three-pointers. Her trey with 6:37 left in the second quarter broke a tie at 16 and started a 16-3 spurt for Abilene Wylie.
“She’s quick, tall and can shoot,” Dane said. “Now I know why she’s going to UT.”
The Lady Bulldogs took a 35-19 halftime lead.
Decatur went just 1-for-11 from the field in the second quarter. The Lady Eagles did not have a field goal in the first half after Joey Redwine tied the game at 16 with a putback.
“They took us out of our offense,” Garner said. “We turned the ball and took some bad shots. That’s not what you want to do when they have an explosive player like that.”

Photos by Joe Duty

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