It was appropriate that Amarillo High and Canyon, both ranked No. 2 in Class 5A and 4A respectively by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches, closed out the 4th Annual Jim Wilcoxson Showcase.
Despite their lofty rankings, the two teams showed that it was still early in the season, as Amarillo High pounded out a 46-33 victory low on style points but high on grit.
That’s no surprise considering the defensive reputation of both teams in their long and illustrious histories. Each team had only one player score in double digits and that was for only 10 points.
“It’s always so hard to score on Canyon,” AHS coach Jeff Williams said. “They’re going to defend and be on the midline and do things to make it hard to score. What I think is good about this is that you have to run your stuff at a very high level to get your shots off and we finally started doing that.”
Amarillo High (2-1) never trailed in the game and Canyon (0-2) kept the Lady Sandies from turning it into a rout thanks mainly to defense. The Lady Eagles had a particularly rough start to the game offensively, as Amarillo High took a 12-2 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Canyon, though, rarely goes down easily, and after falling behind by 12, the Lady Eagles appeared to take some momentum into the locker room by scoring the last five points of the first half to cut it to 17-10 at halftime. However, they were unable to get any closer than six points in the second half.
Amarillo High’s Bella Edwards, who’s scheduled to sign with Oral Roberts this week, went scoreless in the first half, but helped the Lady Sandies get some separation with two 3-pointers in the third quarter. The Lady Sandies built their lead to as many as 18 points in the fourth quarter.
“We’re working hard each day to improve, and I thought we improved from our first game against Panhandle on Tuesday,” Canyon coach Tate Lombard said. “We have a really tough schedule and we’re just trying to find a way to make the next step. We need to find some more scoring in different areas and let them make shots whenever they get it.”
What hasn’t helped the Lady Eagles is that they haven’t had their entire team against two ranked opponents. Seniors Brooklyn Kinsey and Sydnee Winfrey, who were part of last year’s Class 4A state finalists, haven’t been available due to commitments to Canyon’s volleyball team, which is still alive in the playoffs.
“We’ve struggled scoring at times so we have to execute a little bit better and find more open shots,” Williams said. “I think we played pretty well defensively for the most part. Our schedule doesn’t get any easier.”
Lombard has acknowledged that for now, there are still some auditions going on for playing time.
“This is a good opportunity for some new girls to have some bigger roles and we get to watch them against some good teams,” Lombard said. “We had a chance to win one on the road against Panhandle and Amarillo High is always a good matchup. We’re going to have to earn a victory early on against a good team.”
The showcase is named after former Randall coach Wilcoxson, who won two girls state championships at the school.
Other Showcase Games
Tascosa, ranked No. 13 in 5A, beat Frenship 57-46. The Lady Rebels took an early lead and held on to it the rest of the way. Tryssa Dowd led the Lady Rebels with 18 points and Nic’Kiyah Fisher had 14.
In a matchup of ranked smaller schools, Canadian, No. 10 in 3A, edged Wellington, No. 3 in 2A, 49-43. Avery Adams had 12 points for Canadian and Kimora Morales added 10, while Wellington’s Harlee Gomez had a game-high 17 points.
Two other traditional local powers clashed when Panhandle (No. 8 in 2A) faced Nazareth (No. 5 in 1A), with Panhandle rolling to a 58-33 victory. Avery Cathey led Panhandle with 29 points and Evan Shahid added 10 while Addie Schulte led Nazareth with 10.
In the day’s most decisive game, New Home routed Pampa 65-35. Dyllan McMinn led New Home with 20 points while Presley Smith scored 17 and Kirbi Johnson added 13, and Berlin Bartlett led Pampa with 18.
Borger beat Bushland 52-38. Adraya Loftis led Borger with 16 points and Bushland’s Berklee Billington had a game-high 18.
