Lady Panthers take second place at Great East Texas Shootout
Photo by Doc Smith Freshman point guard, Minta Spears drives the lane and makes the bucket in the 20-point win over Van. The Lady Panthers lost in the championship game to Winnsboro. BROWNSBORO - The No. 1, Class 2A Winnsboro Lady Raiders have long been a fixture as a state powerhouse regardless of classification.
The top-ranked, Lady Raiders punctuated their program's success with a convincing, 60-24 win over the Bullard Lady Panthers in the championship game of the Great East Texas Shootout on Saturday night.
Earlier, double-digit wins over Tyler-Lee, and Van earned the final day of championship games, and gives the Lady Panthers another trophy after winning Lindale's, Hoop Heaven last weekend.
After a 11-point, semifinal win over Cleburne earlier on Saturday morning, Winnsboro's depth played a key role in the outcome as Bullard could not keep pace with the high-scoring Lady Raiders.
"It was a very competitive tournament with some really good teams in it," said head coach, Greg Gay. "Any time you win three games and loss just one you should be happy with that. I was a little disappointed in the championship game.
"We had played really well throughout the tournament and we just had our worst game at a bad time."
The Lady Panthers (11-3), will next play Whitehouseat home on Friday night.
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Winnsboro 60, Bullard 24
Winnsboro remained undefeated on the year with the lop-sided win over the Lady Panthers in the finals. Turnovers, and a stout Lady Raiders defense made 19 steals on their way to their 15th win without a loss on the year.
After jumping to a 11-8 led after one period, Winnsboro put the clamps on defensively and did not allow a shot from Bullard until two-minutes remained before haltime. The 18-2, differene in points in the second period made it a 29-10, halftime deficit for Bullard.
Bullard came back with double-digits in the third quarter but was still outscored in the period to build the Winnsboro advantage. The Lady Panthers could not get a shot to fall in the final quarter for the 60-24 final score.
Danielle Heithoff was the only Bullard player in doublefigures with 14 points. Winnsboro was led in scoring by Macy Morton with 18 points.
Game 55 Winnsboro 60, Bullard 24
| Bullard | 8 | 2 | 14 | 0 | -24 |
| Winnsboro 11 | 18 | 19 | 12 -60 | ||
BULLARD - Ashley Ricci, 2; Ally Covalt, 2; Samantha Phillips, 3; Minta Spears, 3; Danielle Heithoff, 14.
WINNSBORO - Morton, 18, Carter, 15; Am. Langhoff, 9; Al.Langhoff, 8; Watkins, 2; Draper, 2; Taskilia, 6.
THREE-POINT GOALS - B: Phillips, Spears. WMorton (2), AM. Langhoff, (3).
RECORDS - Bullard .11- 3. Winnsboro 15-0.
NEXT UP - Whitehouse at Bullard, Friday, 7 p.m.
SEMIFINALS
Bullard 62, Cleburne 51
Freshman point guard, Minta Spears knocked down her first three, 3-pointers in the game, as the Lady Panthers upped thier record to 10-2 with a 62-51 win over the Lady Yellowjackets of Cleburne on Saturday morning.
Spears added another trey to finish the game with a teamhigh, 12 points. Danielle Heithoff had another doubledouble with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
The Lady Panthers outscored Cleburne in every quarter except the final period for the win.
The Lady Yellowjackets were led by 29 points from Jacqueline Chandler. Cleburne advanced to the semifinal with a win over Brownsboro, 48-41.
Game 49 Bullard 62, Cleburne 51
| Bullard | 20 | 9 | 20 13 | -62 |
| Cleburne | 16 | 7 | 15 13 | -51 |
BULLARD - Calli Miller, 7; Ashley Ricci, 6; Ally Covalt, 9; Samantha Phillips, 2; Minta Spears, 12; Kayla Welling, 7; Danielle Heithoff, 10.
CLEBURNE - Chandler, 29; Coffee, 5; Holmes, 14; Richardson, 2; Boston, 2.
THREE-POINT GOALS - B: Spears (4), Covalt. C: Chandler (5), Holmes.
QUARTERFINALS
Bullard 63, Van 43
The Lady Panthers went on a 8-3 run to start the game, and the inside game took over from there as Bullard took down Van, 63-43, to close out Friday nights girls games at the elementary gym.
Bullard wasted little time in pulling away, taking a 19-8, first quarter lead up to a 28-13 count at halftime Ashley Ricci nailed an NBA, 3-pointer for a 25-11 cushion before an Ally Covalt freethrow built the 15- point intermission cushion.
Danielle Heithoff, Calli Miller and Kayla Welling did as they pleased in the paint in the second half as the Lady Panthers cruised in with the win.
Heithoff had 20 points, and Spears added 12 to lead in scoring for Bullard (9-2).
The entire Lady Panther squad played in the game.
Game 43 Bullard 63, Van 43
| Van | 8 | 5 | 16 | 14 | -43 | |
| Bullard 19 | 9 | 22 | 13 | -63 | ||
BULLARD - Emily Phlpott, 2; Calli Miller, 10; Ashley Ricci, 9; Ally Covalt, 4; Samantha Phillips, 2 Minta Spears, 12; Kayla Welling, 4; Danielle Heithoff, 20.
THREE-POINT GOALS - V: Massey, Milewski. B: Ricci, Covalt, Spears (2).
FIRST ROUND
Bullard 65, Tyler-Lee 47
Bullard senior post Danielle Heithoff did the work inside with sophomore guard Minta Spears taking care of the perimeter to help the Lady Panthers stop Robert E. Lee 65-47 Thursday in the opening round of the Great East Texas Shootout.
Heithoff finished with 24 points and four rebounds. Spears totaled 15 points, draining three 3-pointers, to go along with two rebounds and two steals.
Bullard made sure Lee did not provide a similar upset.
After Lee pulled to within four points in the third period, 30-26, on a jumper by Squirtisha Moore, Bullard responded with consecutive 3- pointers by Ashley Ricci and Spears to push the lead out to 10 points. Baskets by Calli Miller, Heithoff and Ally Covalt helped Bullard end the third with a 12-point lead.
Lee never pulled any closer in the fourth.
Game 24 Bullard 65, Tyler-Lee 47
| R.E. Lee | 8 | 14 | 10 | 15 | -41 |
| Bullard | 13 | 15 | 17 | 8 | -65 |
BULLARD - Calli Miller, 6; Ashley Ricci, 5; Ally Covalt, 4; Samantha Phillips, 2; Minta Spears, 15; Kayla Welling, 9; Danielle Heithoff, 24.
THREE-POINTERS - REL: Moore, AHyter. B: Ricci, Spears (2).
