CHILDRESS – It’s that time of year, and the Canyon Lady Eagles are playing like they know what it means.
No. 5 Canyon always seems to be in the mix this late in the season, and Monday night’s Class 4A Division I region semifinal game against No. 22 Burkburnett just served as the latest postseason chapter in the school’s trophy littered history. The Lady Eagles looked like a team which is used to such things, taking control against Burkburnett in the first quarter and rolling to a 55-36 victory which put them in the region finals.
There, Canyon (30-4) will face another huge challenge against No. 4 Decatur, who beat Seminole 46-35 on Monday. The time and place for the matchup will be determined.
It’s hard to say that anybody will enter that game with any kind of an “edge” over the other, but when it’s playoff time it’s pretty hard to bet against the Lady Eagles, as Burkburnett (29-7) became the latest to discover. Canyon wasn’t flawless against the Lady Bulldogs, but was still pretty textbook.
“It’s always exciting to get a win in the playoffs,” Canyon coach Tate Lombard said. “It’s never perfect, but I thought we played well for most of the night and there’s definitely some things we’ve got to do better going into the next round. I’m really proud of our defensive effort and I thought we stepped up and made some big plays on offense that kind of carried us.”
Canyon was in control just about the entire game after the first quarter, leading by as many as 22 points in the fourth quarter long after the issue had been settled.
The Lady Eagles led 34-21 at halftime and were up by as many as 14 points in the first half. Burkburnett led briefly, 10-9 in the first quarter, but that was the highlight of the first half for the Lady Bulldogs, as Canyon closed the first quarter with an 8-1 run to take a 17-11 lead.
The Lady Eagles were particularly prolific from 3-point range in the first half, hitting seven treys. Kambrie Graser was the hottest from beyond the arc with three, including one in the final seconds of the half to give the Lady Eagles their halftime margin.
Graser, one of the returning starters from last year’s state finalists, scored all of her 13 points in the first half to spark the Lady Eagles offensively.
“I think my role on the team is shooting and getting people open,” Graser said. “(The last 3-pointer) got us really hyped and gave us a nice lead to take into the second half. I think we’re definitely on track to get back to (the state championship game).”
Burkburnett hit four 3-pointers in the first half, but otherwise found offense hard to produce. Canyon’s backcourt pressure and rebounding kept Burkburnett from establishing any kind of offensive flow.
“You’ve got to guard good teams and good players at this time of year and it kind of takes every one of us to be able to do that,” Lombard said. “I thought our guards did a great job against their guards, but they had a lot of help from our forwards who were stepping up and helping in gaps in ball screens. I was really proud of our defensive effort.”
The Lady Bulldogs were carried offensively by freshman Nae Beamon, who figures to cause headaches for Burkburnett’s opponents for the next three years. Beamon had a game-high 16 points and kept Burkburnett within striking distance with 10 in the first half.
However, Beamon didn’t get much offensive help, as only four other Lady Bulldogs scored and none of them had more than seven points. Burkburnett especially struggled against Canyon in the second half, scoring only 15 points and was never able to reduce the halftime margin.
The Lady Eagles, on the other hand, showed their superior depth as all 10 players who got in the game scored. After the 3-point barrage in the first half, though, they didn’t hit a single three in the second half and concentrated more on working the ball inside.
Sydnee Winfrey was the main beneficiary of that. Winfrey scored 11 points in the second half, most of them coming inside the paint, and she finished by leading the Lady Eagles with 15 points.
“We were kind of rushed in the first half relying on threes, but in the second half we talked about layups, going to get fouled and getting to the free throw line,” Winfrey said. “We definitely focused on that more. When we drive in and kick it out for threes that’s our best offense. As a senior, at the end of the day we only have three games left max, so you have to walk in thinking this is it, you either win or you go home.”
Canyon is only going home to get ready for Decatur for whenever or wherever that game may be. There’s some recent history between the two teams, as Canyon beat Decatur last season in the region semifinals in the one meeting between the two teams which really counted.
“That’s another really good team,” Lombard said. “We played them twice last year and split, but it will be a good challenge for us.”
