Amarillo High Lady Sandies survive late Tascosa charge for 50-48 win

The rivalry has always been there, at least geographically, but the last three times they have met, things have gotten particularly spicy between the Amarillo High and Tascosa girls.

With sole possession of the District 3-5A lead on the line Tuesday night to close out the first half of district play at the Tascosa Activity Center, that aspect didn’t disappoint. In that regard, everyone had to stick around in the end for the final scene of a franchise which is getting more and more entertaining.

Despite holding the lead for over 90 percent of the game, No. 3 Amarillo High had to wait out a last-second miss by No. 20 Tascosa, and the Lady Sandies held on for a 50-48 victory in the first go-around between the teams this season. The win gave Amarillo High (27-4, 4-0 in district) sole possession of the district lead to close the first half of 3-5A play.

Since the two teams split their series last season, such a spirited contest was hardly a shocker, especially considering both came into the evening unbeaten in district. It wasn’t meant to be easy, and AHS coach Jeff Williams knew it.

“We didn’t escape, we found a way to win,” WIlliams said. “We had the lead most of the game. I really feel like (Tascosa) made a nice run and it took some toughness for us to go ahead and finish the job. That was a hard-fought win, which I knew it was going to be.”

With just over a minute left in the game, Tascosa (20-5, 3-1) took the lead for only the second time all game when La’Kenzee Dickson scored on a driving layup to give the Lady Rebels a 48-47 lead. But on the ensuing possession, Amarillo High’s Taytum Bell answered with a similar shot to put the Lady Sandies back on top, 49-48.

It was the biggest basket of the night for Bell, a three-year starter who has committed to West Texas A&M and finished with 13 points. Bell saw some time on the bench in the second half after getting into foul trouble.

“Taytum’s a pretty special player,” Williams said. “She’s the kid of kid who’s grown into that mindset of not being afraid to take a big shot for us and that was a great attack. It was one of those shots which looked like it was going to roll out but she found a way to get downhill.”

But it was still far from over. The Lady Sandies rebounded a Tascosa miss on the subsequent possession and after the bringing the ball up with 31.5 seconds left in the game, they called timeout to go into a delay.

Tascosa had only two fouls in the fourth quarter at that point, and under the new UIL rules, a team automatically gets two free throws after the opponent commits the fifth foul of the quarter.

Amarillo High was able to run the clock down to 5.6 seconds before Jada Graves was fouled for the fifth foul and went to the line. Graves missed the first free throw, but made the second for a 50-48 lead.

The Lady Rebels had one final shot and Dickson drove to the elbow but was off the mark at the buzzer, sealing the win for the Lady Sandies.

“They beat us up on the boards and we’ve got to get better,” Williams said. “If we don’t get better, a team like that is what we’ll see in the playoffs and we’ll have an early exit. I feel like it was two good teams battling it out.”

Junior Bella Edwards led Amarillo High with 14 points, and her 3-pointer to open the second half expanded Amarillo High’s lead to 39-24, the biggest advantage for the Lady Sandies. Graves added 11 points.

Avery Carter led Tascosa with 18 points. Aniyah Brackens had 13 and Davaeh Johnson added 10.

For most of the first half, Amarillo High lived up to its lofty reputation. Except for a brief one-point Tascosa lead early in the first quarter, the Lady Sandies were in control the entire half, taking a 36-24 halftime lead.

Amarillo High 17  36  41  50 
Tascosa          10  24  36  48 
AHS– Bella Edwards 14, Taytum Bell 13, Jada Graves 11. T– Avery Carter 18, Aniyah Brackens 13, Davaeh Johnson 10. Records: Amarillo High 27-4, 4-0; Tascosa 20-5, 3-1.