SNYDER – For the second straight game, Nazareth used a hot first quarter to propel itself to a win, only this time, this victory is getting the Swiftettes back to their home away from home in San Antonio.
Nazareth was able to edge previously unbeaten Gordon in an exciting UIL Class 1A Division II state semifinal Monday night at the Western Texas Coliseum, propelling Nazareth back to the Alamodome.
Thanks to that victory, Nazareth (30-6) is headed to the UIL Class 1A state tournament for an unprecedented 33rd time, and will now meet up with Saltillo (34-6) in a rematch from last year’s state championship game. The Swiftettes and Saltillo are set to play at 1 p.m. on Thursday afternoon.
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The Swiftettes handled the Lady Lions last year, 53-31, to capture their 26th state title since 1976 when they made their first ever appearance in the state tournament.
For Nazareth head coach Eric Schilling, this will be his 11th state title appearance as the Swiftettes head coach, and he will be going for his ninth state title overall.
“It’s always a different team and a different path to get here,” Schilling said. “These players work so hard and it’s awesome to see them achieve that goal and we need to go finish it off with a state championship.”
Another trip to the state title game looked to be a lock after the first quarter as Nazareth raced out to a 16-5 first quarter lead. Six different players scored in the opening period as they knocked down two three-pointers and worked the ball inside with ease.
For the first six minutes of the second quarter, it was more of the same. Kambri Cleavenger scored eight of her team-high 20 points in the period including two more three pointers. The lead ballooned to 28-13 with 2:50 to go in the first half when Lexi Ramaekers put in an easy shot from underneath the basket.
Gordon immediately took a time out and, from that point forward, momentum began to shift.
Nazareth was outscored 31-20 from that point as the shift was orchestrated by Faith Garnett, the junior point guard and daughter of head coach Matt Garnett. Out of the time out, Garnett finished off the quarter with five straight points to cut the lead to 28-18 at half and gave the Lady Horns some life.
Halftime wasn’t enough to slow down the dynamic point guard. Her teammate, Marley Jackson opened the scoring with a three and but Ramaekers hit a corner three to move the lead back to ten for the Swiftettes with six and half minutes left. Just as she had done in the final minutes before half, Garnett took over.
The cat quick guard began scoring in every manner possible. Driving layups, pull up jumpers from the free-throw line and a step back 3-pointer helped her register 13 points in the quarter and trimmed the Nazareth lead to 41-37 entering the fourth.
The five-foot five junior rattled off her game high 23 points in an 11 stretch from the 2:50 mark of the second to her last points, a pull up jumper from the left elbow, with 7:40 left to go in the game.
“Faith was unbelievable” Schilling said. “When she gets hot like that it’s scary. She can get to the rim, hit pull ups, and hit threes. She’s so tough to defend and such a good ball handler.”
Both teams combined for 32 points in that third quarter so it goes to reason that defense was the name of the game in the fourth. The physicality of both squads began to show up as the squads combined for 12 attempts from the free throw line and the pace of the game began to slow down.
That set up a nerve wrecking finish for Swiftette fans.
Up 47-44, Stoney Bauer for Gordon hit a fade away shot in the paint to cut the lead to 47-46 with 10.4 seconds remaining. The Lady Horns chose to foul immediately after the time out which sent Nazareth’s grizzled veteran, Madison Brockman to the line for two shots.
Brockman, who had the unenviable task of guarding Garnett all night long, went to the line with nine seconds remaining. She calmly sank the first free throw but missed the second one. Gordon’s Marley Jackson brought down the rebound and quickly kicked the ball out to Garnett.
Gordon’s do everything playmaker took the ball from Jackson and began to make her move. The Lady Horns were out of time outs so it was up to Garnett to tie or win the game.
Coming in from the right side, she tried to weave through multiple Swiftette defenders in the paint before trying to loft a shot over Ramaekers at the buzzer. The ball, needing to get over the outstretched arms of the 5-foot-11 defender, fell short of the rim to seal the victory for Nazareth.
“Our defense stepped up and got stops when it needed to and pulled down some key rebounds,” Schilling said. “We had a bend but don’t break mentality that propelled us to the win”.