Taytum Bell of Amarillo High shoots a jumper over two Lubbock Cooper defenders during a Class 5A Regional Quarterfinal showdown in Dimmitt on Tuesday night. [Trevor Fleeman/ Press Pass Sports]
DIMMITT— The Amarillo High Lady Sandies made sure that history repeated itself by making sure history didn’t repeat itself Tuesday night.
That might sound confusing, but it puts them back in a nonetheless familiar position.
In a rematch of a game they lost earlier in the season, the Lady Sandies faced Lubbock Cooper in a Class 5A region quarterfinal game. This time they reversed the result when it most counted, getting off to a fast start in the second half to go on to a 62-50 victory.
It also means that for the seventh time in the last eight seasons, No. 5 Amarillo High (30-5) is headed to the region tournament, and will face Mansfield Timberview at 4 p.m. Friday in Wichita Falls. After beating No. 7 Cooper (28-5), the Lady Sandies have already passed a big test.
“It was really just another knockdown drag out,” said AHS coach Jeff Williams, whose team lost to Cooper 60-57 at Lubbock earlier this season. “Just two good teams playing each other.”
There was no doubt at the end of this particular evening, though, that the Lady Sandies emerged as the better team. Not that it necessarily came easy.
The first half was as tight as might be expected between two top teams, as Amarillo High clung to a 25-24 halftime lead.
After trading the lead early in the first quarter, the Lady Sandies went up by as many as five and led 13-10 at the end of the period. Amarillo High twice held eight-points in the second quarter but Cooper chipped away to cut the deficit to a point at the half.
But Amarillo High came out with a statement of intent in the second half, scoring the first eight points to go up 33-24, as four different players scored via transition baskets or putbacks to establish the tone for the second half, as Cooper never got closer than five after that.
“We ran a set coming right out of halftime and executed well and got the look we wanted,” Williams said. “We had a couple of options but we wanted to get Taytum Bell to the rim and we were able to get there and finish. It’s the way you need to start a half.”
It was actually senior Briley Barnes and junior Mckenzie Smith who most consistently finished down low for Amarillo High. Barnes scored 10 points in the first half to carry the Lady Sandies offensively and finished with a game-high 19 points.
This time of the year is carrying a special meaning for Barnes as Amarillo High’s only senior starter.
“It’s not so much being a senior,” said Barnes, a three-year starter who signed to play at Tulsa. “This is my favorite team I’ve ever played on, so it’s not just doing it for myself and the other seniors, it’s doing it for every single girl on the team and just caring about all the hard work we’ve put in this year and making it worth it.”
In the team as family analogy, Barnes could be viewed as the big sister, but she doesn’t see her role as being so conventional.
“I’m more like the wacky aunt,” Barnes said. “I don’t know if I’m the one they look up to so much as they say ‘Let Briley do her own thing.’”
The wacky aunt will be around at least through the weekend, but when she finally leaves, what’s left in the house should make for a fun time. Amarillo High started two sophomores and two freshmen against Cooper, like they have most of the season.
Smith has emerged as the inside force among that group. She overcame some foul trouble in the fourth quarter when she scored eight of her 15 points, getting inside for crucial scores when the Lady Pirates looked ready to make a run.
“With me having three fouls I had to sit out a little bit, so when I went out there in the fourth quarter something turned up,” Smith said. “It was a close game so I was trying to pull all the boards I can and get putbacks. I had a lot of energy and I felt my legs up under me ready to go.”
Sophomore point guard Jada Graves helped get the tempo going in the second half and finished with 11 points.
It now officially looks as if last year’s area round exit against Canutillo was a fluke. At least that’s the way Williams sees it.
“I do feel like that’s one of our goals for a place we can get to,” Williams said. “I feel awful that this caliber of game was played tonight because (the Lady Pirates) are as good as anybody in the state. It’s nice to put that loss from last year behind us and move forward.”
Adlee Blacklock led Cooper with 16 points and Catalina Cortez had 15, but nobody else for the Lady Pirates scored more than six.
Lub. Cooper 10 24 35 50
Amarillo High 13 25 43 62
LC— Adlee Blacklock 16, Catalina Cortez 15. AHS— Briley Barnes 19, Mckenzie Smith 15, Jada Graves 11. Records: Cooper 28-5; Amarillo High 30-5.