PLEASANTON — Every time Sharyland Pioneer seemed to find a breakthrough, their opponents answered back quickly.
That was the obstacle the Diamondbacks were unable to clear against the Georgetown Eagles during their Class 5A regional semifinal game Friday night at Pleasanton High School.
A quick start for Georgetown helped lead the Eagles past the D’backs 42-28 in a defensive duel and brought Pioneer’s historic season on the hardwood to a close in the team’s first trip to the Sweet 16 of the girls basketball state playoffs in school history.
“It’s been unforgettable,” senior forward Audry Hornaday said. “We made history not once, not twice, but three times. We’ve had so much support from our families, other teams and other coaches. We’re so blessed to be in the position we are. We’re very happy with how far we’ve come.”
“Having the support from other teams down in the Valley and our families, in general, has been great,” junior point guard Natalie Reyes said. “We’re just so excited to be here. We were able to get on the court another day and we’re just so blessed and very thankful.”
Georgetown managed to hold Pioneer scoreless for the first 4:30 of game time and built a double-digit lead on the back of a 13-2 run to begin the first quarter.
The Diamondbacks gradually began to find their rhythm offensively but were hampered by a rough shooting night from deep and an elite Eagles’ defense.
“I’m proud of their effort,” Sharyland Pioneer head coach Nicole Villarreal said. “We played a great team. They shot the ball lights out and we couldn’t find the basket. It wasn’t a very good shooting night for us and we just weren’t as consistent as we have been.”
Georgetown possessed more length defensively than any team the D’backs had faced previously this season and the team’s close-out speed helped effectively seal off the perimeter.
Pioneer, which had frequently turned to its clutch 3-point shooting in the area round and regional quarterfinal victories over Victoria West and Victoria East, was unable to connect from behind the arc with consistency until the fourth quarter.
In total, the Diamondbacks shot at a 3-of-17 clip from 3-point land, all of which landed during the second half.
Nevertheless, Pioneer trimmed Georgetown’s lead to as few as 12 on multiple occasions, but a big disadvantage in the rebounding battle (31-17) gave the Eagles several second-chance scoring opportunities and made cutting into the deficit difficult.
“We had to really worry about (their length) and make some adjustments to it, which made the spacing on the court different,” Villarreal said. “We did a really good job of playing long possessions of defense, we were just outrebounded. … The nine points they had in the fourth quarter alone were all off second-chance opportunities or from the free-throw line.”
Junior forward Jordan Bravo led Sharyland Pioneer with a game-high 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting, while also draining each of her three free-throw attempts. Hornaday and Reyes combined for seven points, while senior center Carly Hornaday added four points and a pair of blocks.
Georgetown guard Graci Harris tallied a team-high 13 points as the Eagles were held to their lowest point total of the postseason.
Georgetown improves to 26-4 on the season and advances to the Region IV-5A championship game, while Pioneer slides to 21-3 overall in its first loss to a Class 5A opponent since the area round of the 2020 state playoffs.
“It’s a tough pill to swallow because we were really wanting to continue,” Villarreal said. “We’re going to move one, but this team and this senior group is extremely special. They turned the corner for us at Pioneer.”
The season-ending defeat brings a culmination to the greatest girls basketball season in school history at Sharyland Pioneer and one of the top postseason runs in recent history among all Rio Grande Valley teams.
Pioneer recorded its third straight district championship and its second consecutive unbeaten run through district competition in 31-5A, one of the Valley’s deepest districts.
The D’backs won their first area-round playoff game in school history in their third trip to the second round and made their first-ever appearances in the regional quarterfinals and regional semifinals.
The team put Pioneer on the map and captured eyeballs from around the state with exhilarating come-from-behind postseason victories against Victoria West and East thanks to multiple electrifying fourth-quarter rallies.
Hornaday, Reyes and the rest of the D’backs hope they’ve helped showcase the strength of girls high school basketball in the RGV during their historic postseason run.
“We’ve proven that the Valley can compete, that we can come up here and compete,” Hornaday said. “The Valley is on the come-up and it’s not just our team. There are plenty of other teams — Edinburg, Harlingen, Brownsville Veterans — that have so much potential. … We’re only going to improve and there’s only going to be more to come.”
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @ByAndyMcCulloch
