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EC's post-season plans on pause for now
With one win left to clinch a playoff berth, the Lady 'Birds faced a foe they had easily defeated 62-29 earlier in the season. Everything was set up for the Lady 'Birds to move into a first-round match with Angleton, but easy is not a word often used to describe Foster's home basketball court. "We were supposed to win tonight," senior Chelsi Robinson said. "We came in here thinking that we were going to win already. That's it and we shouldn't have thought that, because we were coming down here to play against them." Foster took the game 41-38 and forced an extra game to determine District 24-4A's final playoff team. Both teams played late Friday night at Columbus Junior High for one more game. The winner gets Angleton and the loser stays home. As of presstime, the outcome of Friday's game was not known, but El Campo's determination to finish with a win and clinch a spot in the post-season was clear. At the end of their loss to Foster, many Lady 'Birds were in tears and everyone was thinking about their next chance.
"Rebounding," she said. "Nobody was rebounding." Spencer, one of El Campo's top rebounders and scorers, gets several points off of put-back shots. She also said the team's strength is its rebounding game and that's something El Campo has an advantage in going up against Foster. The Lady 'Birds just could not make it work Tuesday. The game started out with El Campo well in charge. Through the first 3 minutes, the Lady 'Birds pulled out to a 5-1 lead. With seven members scoring points, El Campo led 14-6 at the end of the quarter. Foster came back in the second quarter to cut the lead a little closer. El Campo and the Lady Falcons traded baskets through the first few minutes of the quarter until Foster pulled away with free throws. The Lady Falcons made 9 of 10 free-throw attempts in the quarter to El Campo's 3 of 6. Foster came back to take the quarter 13-9 and cut El Campo's lead going into the half to 23-19. The Lady 'Birds claimed the third quarter 11-9 to take a 34-28 lead, but it quickly disappeared in the fourth. Foster went on a 4-0 run in the first minute and a half until Ashley Thomas hit a free throw for El Campo's first score. With 5:26 left to play, the Lady 'Birds led 35-32. Another free throw by Kela Johnson pushed the score to 36-32 with 3:58 left in the game, but Foster quickly answered. The Lady Falcons caught El Campo off guard on a cross-court inbounds pass for a quick lay-up on the next possession. A minute went by without either team scoring until Foster hit a pair of free throws to take a 37-36 lead with 2:52 left to play. Spencer grabbed a rebound and put it back in with 3:31 left in the game to reclaim the lead at 38-37, but it was the last time El Campo scored that night. Both teams fought hard for possessions over the next 2 minutes and nei- ther earned a basket. Finally, Foster broke through with a hook shot in the post to take the lead at 39-38 with 1:31 left to play. The Lady 'Birds had their chances to take the lead back. El Campo missed two free throws while Foster missed three until there were 20 seconds left in the game. Foster connected on a pair of free throws to put the game away at 41-38. El Campo tried to answer with a game-tying three. Robinson, Shae Solomon and Thomas all missed good shots that, for the most part, simply rimmed out. Thomas took the final shot at the buzzer. The miss sealed the win for Foster and sent the Lady 'Birds to the floor in disbelief. Several minutes after the game, the Lady 'Birds were still emotional and realized they had overlooked their opponent. "We took them lightly," Spencer said. "We beat them so bad last time, I guess we thought we were going to do the same thing down here." Lesson learned. Now El Campo faced a tough challenge. Win Friday and celebrate or lose and work for next year. LADY 'BIRD STATS Foster 41, El Campo 38
EC Leaders POINTS - Ashley Thomas 13, Ebonee Spencer 11, Chelsi Robinson 4, Ashley Brooks 3, Angel Brooks 3
REBOUNDS - An. Brooks 8, Spencer 7, As. Brooks 6, Kela Johnson 3, Robinson 3 STEALS - Shae Solomon 2, An. Brooks 2, Spencer 2 ASSISTS - Johnson 2 |
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