Lady Blues play complete game in win over Brownwood

In just their second game of the district schedule, the Graham Lady Blues earned a strong victory Friday, Jan. 12 with their 39-30 finish over the visiting Brownwood Lady Lions.

With the win, the Lady Blues moved to 1-1 in district play while the Lady Lions fell to 1-2. Though there’s still much of the season left to play, Graham sits in third place in district while Brownwood stands in fourth.

As has happened so many times this season, senior Hannah Williams got the scoring started for Graham with a steal and a fastbreak layup for two points. However, it took a few minutes for the team as a unit to find a rhythm.

Meanwhile, Brownwood didn’t score its first points until nearly five minutes into the game thanks to Graham’s solid zone defense. The Lady Blues clamped down on anything the Lady Lions tried offensively in the first quarter while Williams, senior Madi Wilde and sophomore Mayci Ryans did the scoring for Graham.

Williams and Wilde both had layups for points while Ryans nailed her first 3-pointer of the game off an assist from Wilde and the Lady Blues led 9-3 after the first period.

Ryans picked up right where she left off in the second as she knocked down another 3-pointer, this one off an assist from junior Rebecca McGregor. The sophomore Ryans continued to show off the hot hand as on the next possession she dribbled to the top of the key and pulled up for her third 3-pointer in a row, which made nine straight points for the Lady Blues to lead 15-3.

Graham rebounded at a high level in this game, led by junior Emi Gordy who finished with a game-high 13 rebounds.

Defense turned into offense for Graham as Gordy, McGregor and senior Maddie Franklin all scored in the frame. Gordy had an offensive rebound — one of five she secured in the game — and a putback layup, Franklin hit a mid-range jump shot while McGregor recorded a steal and layup at the other end.

By halftime, the Lady Blues held a comfortable 21-9 lead over the visiting Lady Lions.

“On the defensive side of the ball, I thought early we got our hands on a lot of passes, we deflected a lot of balls, and then even knocked them out of (their) hands and tied up some balls,” head coach Kyle Wood said. “I thought we were just better on that and we weren’t allowing them to just pass freely; we made the next pass hard.”

Brownwood came out with a new aggression in the second half as the visitors looked to get back in the game. But Graham was ready and kept things consistent.

One of Graham’s first possessions of the second half showcased the determination the team had.

Franklin missed a 3-point shot, but she and Gordy recorded back-to-back-to-back offensive rebounds to keep possession before Franklin finally managed to get the ball into the net.

The Lady Blues were outrebounding and giving more effort than their opponent and it showed on the court. By the end of the third quarter, Graham still held a 10-point lead as the teams headed to the fourth quarter with the Lady Blues up 27-17.

The visiting Lady Lions managed to pull things close in the fourth quarter, getting within five points of the Lady Blues a couple times. But Graham held strong throughout the final minutes.

The highlight of the quarter came with less than two minutes to play. Graham led 35-30 but Brownwood had the ball and was looking to score again.

After a strong defensive possession, a Lady Lion went up for a layup but was met by a huge block from Gordy. The effort pushed the Lady Blues to hold on in the remaining time for the big district win.

“I thought we played extremely hard on defense…I thought they played hard and I thought they played smart,” Wood said. “I liked how aggressive we were with the ball on offense at times and people looking to shoot when they’re open. I thought overall, it was probably the most complete game they’ve played all year.”

Williams led the team in scoring with 10 points, followed by Ryans with 9 points, Wilde with 7 points and Franklin with 5 points. Gordy hauled in 13 rebounds with Franklin securing eight rebounds and McGregor and Wilde each recording four.

The Lady Blues’ next home game will be Friday, Jan. 19 against Mineral Wells at 5:45 p.m.