Ozona Girls Top Ballinger in Playoff Opener for McSherry’s 700th Win

SAN ANGELO, TX — The Ozona Lady Lions had to celebrate with two banners after their 40-29 win over Ballinger on Monday.

One was for their bidistrict playoff win, and the other was for head coach Jerry McSherry’s 700th career victory.

It made for an unforgettable night for Ozona and McSherry, whose team improved to 25-9. They’ll move on to face Sundown (23-12) or McCamey (14-10) later this week in the second round of the Class 2A Division I playoffs.

“It means everything,” McSherry said. “I knew we’d have a good chance to get 700 this year, and it was fun to do it in the first playoff game. 

“Down the road, when I’m retired and look back on this stuff, it’ll mean more to me. But the kids wanted it so bad. The banner they made and things like that, I had no idea. But they’ve been talking about it for two weeks now.”

It was hard to tell whether the playoff trophy or 700th win meant more to the Ozona girls after the game.

“It felt amazing,” said Ozona junior Aaliyah Renteria about winning the milestone game for McSherry. “We’ve been looking forward to it this whole season, so like this game’s the game. We’ve got to do it for him.”

Renteria did her part by scoring 13 points and pulling down 15 rebounds, while Miya Renteria added 11 points and five rebounds.

The Lady Lions’ defense also managed to contain Ballinger’s dynamic duo of Ysee Le Borgne and Ashtyn Wilson, who were each held to nine points.

Le Borgne did her damage with five steals, eight rebounds, three assists and a block, while Wilson had 10 rebounds and a steal, but the two weren’t able to make their usual impact.

“We knew they had two really good scorers, and our plan going in was to make sure those two were limited in what they did,” McSherry said. “We didn’t really care what the score was as long as we limited their looks.

“We figured (Ballinger) would play pretty solid defense against us, and they did. We struggled a little bit on our scoring end. We had some uncharacteristic turnovers on our part. I don’t know if the kids were a little bit hyped or what, but hey, a win’s a win.”

Ozona held a 12-10 lead after the first quarter and was able to push it out to 23-15 by halftime. The Lady Lions slowly extended their advantage to 33-21 by the end of the third quarter.

After falling behind by 14 in the opening minute of the fourth quarter, Ballinger made a late charge and got as close as 35-29 with about 4:30 to play.

Le Borgne then had a try at a 3-pointer that would have really made things interesting, but the shot missed, and Ozona’s Avery Davidson was able to seal the win with a three-point play on the other end.

Ballinger’s season ended with a record of 24-7. The Lady Cats began the year 13-0 and were ranked as high as No. 7 in the state, but a season-ending knee injury to starter Kyndal Rollwitz in district play helped keep them from reaching their full potential.

Ozona’s Alliyah Renteria also missed much of this season with an injury, but she was able to return to give the Lady Lions a boost heading into the playoffs.

“We knew once we got her back that she’d find that spot and get back the routine,” McSherry said. “She does all the dirty work and usually ends up having to guard the biggest player on the other team, so she doesn’t get a lot of looks because of that. But tonight, she was able to take advantage of their smaller post players, and it worked out well for us.”

Ozona won three playoff games last year, and the Lady Lions returned all but two players from that team.

That playoff experience could help them make another run this season.

“Last year, it was most of our first year on varsity,” Aaliyah Renteria said. “This year, we’re experienced and confident and less nervous, and we know what to do.”

Ozona 40, Ballinger 29

Ballinger   10   5   6   8 — 29

Ozona   12   11   10   7 — 40

BALLINGER — Ashtyn Wilson 9, Ysee Le Borgne 9, Braylin Quiroga 3, Makayla Galindo 8.

OZONA — Kaidence Tambunga 2, Avery Davidson 5, Mia Webb 4, Kelynn Bean 3, Emily Shaffer 2, Miya Renteria 11, Aaliyah Renteria 13.