Lady Tigers’ early start key in first-round win
The fifth-seeded Irving College girls jumped out to an early lead on their way to a tournament win Monday night at Dibrell Elementary School.
The Lady Tigers used tough defense — and strong inside play from Nisa Butzback — to build an 11-0 advantage over the first four minutes of Monday’s game, and eventually advanced to the semifinals of this week’s JV tournament with a 36-25 win over the Lady Bulldogs.
With the win, the Lady Tigers moved on to a Tuesday night matchup against top-seeded Morrison.
Butzback and Micaela Grieves accounted for nine of their team’s first 11 points, and tough pressure defense kept Eastside from developing any offensive rhythm.
Candice Hill put the Lady Bulldogs on the board with a free throw at the 2:10 mark, and Lauren Henderson buried a 3-pointer with one second to play in the opening quarter to cut Irving College’s lead to 11-7.
Eastside continued to chip away at the Lady Tigers advantage, cutting the gap to a basket (15-13) midway through the period on a Hill layup.
But Irving College came to life late in the second quarter, with an 8-0 run that gave them a 23-13 lead by the halftime break.
The two county rivals swapped baskets for most of the second half, but Eastside could never come closer than within eight points of the Lady Tiger lead as the game drew to its conclusion.
Butzback led all scorers with 18 points, while Grieves finished with six and DaRae Wells had four. Abril Amparan, Kirstie King, Haley Wanamaker and Heather Webb scored two each.
Eastside was led by Tessa King, who scored all eight of her team-high total in the second half. Jamie Vernon had seven, Hill scored five, Henderson had three and Amber Hillis added two.