MERTZON, TX— The #20 ranked Irion County Lady Hornets claimed a huge victory over the #12 ranked Garden City Lady Bearkats, 45-40.
The hive was alive Friday night at Irion County High School, where the Lady Hornets were taking on the Lady Bearkats in their second district matchup. In the first game, the Lady Bearkats got the better of the Lady Hornets, 46-40.
For the first few minutes, shots weren’t falling for either team until junior Baylee Rainey found fellow junior Kyleigh Yant who make a short jump shot to put the Lady Hornets on the board first.
Then, the first quarter onslaught began. Six of the seven girls on varsity for Irion County scored at least two points in the first quarter, something head coach Don Coffell was extremely happy about.
After one, Irion County led the Lady Bearkats, 17-3, but that did not stop Garden City.
In the second quarter, junior Emy Schwartz for the Lady Bearkats had eight points to help Garden City close the gap and go into halftime, 25-17, after Irion County added eight points.
Both teams came out of the locker room and continued the good fight. Two 3-point shots from Irion County’s Rainey and Callaway help the Lady Hornets maintain their lead but Schwartz and senior Brylon Frerich scored seven points combined to keep the Lady Bearkats within striking distance, 37-24.
The Lady Bearkats are ranked #12 for a reason and they put on a show in the fourth quarter to prove they deserved the respect from around the state. Garden City came within three points of the lead at one point.
That being said, the Lady Hornets are ranked #20 for a reason and they proved it, and more than likely improved their ranking, by holding off Garden City for a huge district win, 45-40.
Somebody certainly kicked the hornet’s nest last night. The Lady Hornets swarmed all night. The efforts of the “Big 3”, Rainey, , Callaway, and Fowler, were on display. They’re kind of the big three, and everyone talks about them a lot” Coach Coffell said, “However, we literally are not where we’re at without every single girl on that team. The girls that come off the bench are absolutely huge. Presli Cormier starts, Kyleigh Yant has her sweet spot on the short corner and the base line. Presli is just a tenacious defender and great offensively.
Coffell continued by saying that the Big 3 did their job but didn’t stop talking about the entire team.
“Kassie Martinez comes off the bench and is just a spark for us. Shaylei Streicher comes off the bench. She goes in for Fowler, and we call her “steady eddy”. She plays the game at her pace and doesn’t rush anything. All seven of those girls out there tonight deserve a huge pat on the back.”
The name Coffell should look familiar. Coach Don Coffell was the Hornet’s head football coach a couple of years ago and was an assistant coach in basketball. When asked what brought him back to Irion County, Coffell stated he never left.
He said, “My boy (Trevin Coffell) went and played basketball for Sul Ross. So, I didn’t want to miss (his) games and so I retired from coaching. They (Irion County) actually hired me back as a halftime AG teacher. Then, this job came open and they asked me to do this and ‘Heck yeah, I’m all about it.”
SCORING
ICHS— Yant-10, Callaway- 9, Fowler- 8, Rainey-7, Streicker-4, Martinez-4, Cormier-3
3-Point Shots- Rainey- 1, Cormier- 1, Callaway- 1
GCHS— Schwartz- 18, Frerich- 10, Seidenberger- 5, Baker- 3, Gully- 3, Batla- 1
3-Point Shots- Seidenberger- 1, Gully- 1, Frerich- 1
Maxpreps has the Lady Bearkats at 7-1 in district and Irion County at 5-1 in district. Garden City gets a home game on Tuesday, January 21, against the Veribest Lady Falcons and the Lady Hornets head to Coke County and take on the Robert Lee Lady Steers the same night.
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