Ballinger Girls Beat Miles With Battle’s Steal in Final Seconds

MILES, TX — In a game that was defined by defense, it seemed fitting that it was a steal in the final seconds that sealed the Ballinger girls basketball team’s 39-37 win over Miles on Tuesday.

After calling a timeout with 5.6 seconds on its end of the court, Miles had a chance to win the game at the buzzer or send it to overtime.

The Lady Bulldogs never got a shot off, however, as Ballinger’s Jessa Battle stole a pass near the free-throw line and raced down the court as the last seconds ticked off the clock.

It set off a celebration for the Lady Cats, who escaped with a huge win that has them in a tie with Roscoe for first place in the District 8-2A standings.

Ballinger is now 17-8 overall and 7-1 in district, while Miles dropped from first to third at 15-8 and 7-2.

Ballinger trailed for much of the night, including 9-0 to start the game, but the Lady Cats took the lead for good midway through the fourth quarter.

“I’m very proud of their effort and for competing and overcoming adversity,” Ballinger head coach Nathan Riggan said. “We struggled a little bit early on, but we just clawed our way back in. Like I told them, ‘Things are going to happen early on, but you’ve just got to overcome them and make runs of your own,’ and I thought they did a pretty good job of that.”

After starting the game down 9-0, Ballinger took a 20-19 lead into halftime after a late steal and layup by Matilda Galvan.

It was a memorable night for Galvan, who had 18 points and crossed over the 1,000-point mark for her career.

Ballinger trailed by as many as six points in the fourth quarter, but Galvan fueled the comeback, hitting back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Lady Cats a 36-34 lead with 4:35 remaining. 

Then she had another steal and layup to push the lead to 38-34 just moments later.

“It normally takes us a bit to get in the groove of everything,” Galvan said. “But once we finally settle down and get the ball moving consistently, we get stuff going. And then when we get hot, we get hot.”

Miles’ Allyson Matheny hit a 3-pointer with 2:55 remaining to cut Ballinger’s lead to 38-37, but the Lady Bulldogs never scored again.

Matheny had a team-high nine points for Miles, while Jayden Hinds and Kendyl Riddle each had seven. Battle also had nine points for Ballinger.

Miles will be off Friday before visiting Winters next Tuesday. 

The Lady Bulldogs’ district-title hopes took a hit, but they’re still in the running. They’ll need to beat Roscoe again, while hoping that Roscoe beats Ballinger again.

For Ballinger, the Lady Cats control their own destiny. They host Winters on Friday before a first-place showdown at Roscoe next Tuesday.

Roscoe topped Ballinger 53-37 when they met earlier this month.

“It’s going to be another tough challenge,” Riggan said. “We kind of know what to expect this time out of them. Hopefully we can learn from tonight and carry it over to Friday, and then move forward and get ready for Roscoe.

“The next game is the most important game. We’ve got to have that mentality moving forward.”