Ballinger Girls Survive Back-and-Forth Battle With Miles

BALLINGER, TX — When the Ballinger and Miles girls basketball teams get together, you can bet on seeing a close game.

For the fourth straight time, the Runnels County rivals had a game that was decided by three points or less when they met Wednesday in Ballinger.

The contest featured six ties and eight lead changes, but Ballinger took the lead for good when Makayla Galindo hit a 3-pointer with 1:27 to play, and the Lady Cats hung on for a 47-45 win.

It was a huge win for Ballinger, which managed to stay in fourth place in District 8-2A, giving the Lady Cats the inside track to the final playoff spot.

Ballinger trailed by seven points late in the third quarter, but the Lady Cats put together a rally when they needed it most.

“I feel like we deserved it,” said Ballinger sophomore Ysee Le Borgne, who had a stellar all-around game with 19 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, five blocks and three steals. “We played like we were supposed to play as a team and all together, so it’s a good win.”

Ballinger, which is ranked No. 22 in the state in Class 2A, improved to 22-4 overall and 5-3 in district. Miles fell to 21-14, 4-5.

Miles won the first meeting with Ballinger 27-26 earlier this month. It was only the second loss of the season for the Lady Cats, starting a slide in which they lost three of four games.

Ballinger also lost starting guard Kyndal Rollwitz to a season-ending knee injury during that stretch, and the promising season was suddenly in jeopardy.

But the Lady Cats rebounded by taking down district leader Coleman to start the turnaround, and Wednesday’s win over Miles may have been the biggest win of all.

It has taken every player to help the team get back on track, said senior Ashtyn Wilson.

“I think it’s all a team effort,” said Wilson, who had 12 points Wednesday and led the team’s defense with six steals. “I think everybody collectively is just in it for everybody. There’s not a single person on this team I’d say that’s doing it for themselves.”

Ballinger trailed at the end of each of the first three quarters, but the Lady Cats never fell too far behind.

Trailing by seven in the final minute of the third quarter, Le Borgne hit a 3-pointer to pull her team within 35-31, then dished a pass to Braylin Quiroga, who hit a shot at the buzzer to make it a 35-33 game.

Le Borgne, a foreign exchange student from France, is a talented six-foot sophomore with guard skills, and she made plays all over the court Wednesday to will Ballinger to the win.

Leading 45-42 with 30 seconds to play, Le Borgne drove to the basket and hit a layup to all but seal the victory.

“We’re extremely blessed to have her,” Ballinger head coach Nathan Riggan said. “She helps us on both ends, and she has a very high IQ of the game, which plays a lot into it from playing her whole life.”

Ballinger has four games left in the regular season, beginning Friday at Winters. The Lady Cats then finish up with the district’s top three teams — Roscoe, Colorado City and Coleman.

“Like I told them, we’re taking it one game at a time,” Riggan said. “Obviously, there’s other things that can happen throughout the district. We’ve just got to worry about ourselves, control what we can control, and take care of business each night. We’re not looking too far ahead. We’re not looking behind. We’re just taking it one day at a time.”

Miles was led by Beth Kellermeier, who had 15 points and 10 rebounds. Brynlee Mund had eight points, including three straight clutch free throws to tie the game at 42-42 with 1:54 to play. Mund also hit a late 3-pointer to pull her team within 47-45 before Ballinger dribbled out the clock.

Miles isn’t out of the playoff race just yet, but the Lady Bulldogs will need to pull off some big wins down the stretch. They have three games remaining, including matchups with second-place Roscoe and third-place Colorado City. Their next game is Tuesday at home against Winters.

Ballinger 47, Miles 45

Miles   13   11   11   10 — 45

Ballinger   10   10   13   14 — 47

MILES — Brynlee Mund 8, Corabella Schwertner 6, Savannah Godfrey 4, Ximena Torres 2, Deanna Medina 8, Beth Kellermeier 15, Ashlynn Matheny 2.

BALLINGER — Ashtyn Wilson 14, Ysee Le Borgne 19, Braylin Quiroga 4, Harlee Mikalik 2, Makayla Galindo 8.