KENEDY — Harvest Christian has been eyeing a rematch against Shriner St. Paul since the end of last season, when the Eagles lost to the Cardinals in the regional championship.
With the Cardinals punching their ticket to the state semifinals Friday, the only thing standing in the Eagles’ way at a chance of redemption was Allen Academy.
The Eagles took care of business, soaring past the Rams 54-18 on Saturday at the George W. Dumont Gymnasium in Kenedy.
“If you look at our girls faces, this was just another game,” Harvest Christian head coach Jaime Gonzalez said. “We were waiting for this next round with Shiner. We wanted that rematch. We fell short last year when we believed we had a chance. We believe we have fixed a lot of those issues from last year. So, we’re looking forward to it.”
The Eagles advance to the TAPPS Class 2A state semifinals for the second time in program history for the first time since 2017.
They’ll face off against the Cardinals at 4:30 p.m. Thursday at University High in Waco. The winner moves on to the TAPPS Class 2A state championship, slated for 6:30 p.m. Friday at West High in Waco.
“We’re glad that we’re able to get in the state semifinals,” Gonzalez said. “Honestly, before the season started, we knew with the team we had, we had an opportunity to do that. That was part of the goal. But it isn’t really just to get there. It’s been a while, but we’ve been there before. We want to get the job done this time and do what we set out to do.”
With the defense keyed in on the Eagles’ leading scorer, Ashley Gonzalez, sophomore Lexi Garcia served as her team’s primary option, netting a game-high 20 points, 12 of which came during the second half.
Gonzalez still had her moment, scoring seven of her 14 points during the third, helping the Eagles extend their lead to 31 going into the final period.
“Lexi played really well and had a good shooting night,” Gonzalez said. “I think Ashley didn’t play as well but they were running a box-and-one on her, forcing the defense in her direction. But it’s really neat being able to have another player like Lexi. You try to take one of them out and you may be able to slow them down, but you won’t stop them because we have another player capable of bringing points. It’s kind of like you pick your poison.”
Harvest Christian held a 20-point lead over the Rams at the break, limiting Allen Academy to just two first-half field goals.
The second half fared no better for the Rams, outscored 14-3 during the opening minutes of the third, increasing their deficit to 29. The Eagles held the Rams to three second-half field goals, with five of their 12 points coming from the foul line.
Despite the 36-point victory, Gonzalez believes the Eagles didn’t play to their full potential, with the team struggling inside the paint.
“We gave up a lot of offensive boards,” Gonzalez said. “On our press, we were able to cause some trouble. Allen (Academy) was never really able to run their offense so that’s good. But, as a coach, I saw a lot of holes that we need to clean up. This next round, we have a really good team facing us. To get past them, we’re going to have to tighten things up really quick.”
