SAN ANGELO, TX — The No. 13-ranked Garden City girls basketball team can run up and down the court with No. 3 Eula in a lot of ways.
When it comes to experience, however, the Lady Kats still have some catching up to do.
It’s difficult to match the pedigree of Eula, which has made numerous deep playoff runs over the years, and Garden City’s roster this season has only one senior.
That disparity may have been the difference in the second half of their regional semifinal clash Tuesday as Eula pulled away for a 54-44 win.
Garden City was within 25-21 at halftime, but the Lady Pirates quickly pulled away in the third quarter and never allowed a serious run.
Eula (34-2) advances to play No. 6 Hermleigh in the regional final later this week. Garden City’s season ended with a record of 32-4.
“Eula’s been deep for a long time now, and this stage was a little smaller for them than it was for us,” Garden City head coach Dustin Bates said. “My girls’ effort and energy was turned to a 10 every single game all year long, so the energy and effort was awesome. But I felt like we struggled with our execution, and a lot of that was due to Eula and their good defense.
“They’re a solid defensive team. They held Westbrook, who was No. 1 in the state most of the season, to 27 points, so I thought we did OK offensively. I thought defensively we broke down too many times, and our lack of execution offensively on too many possessions ended up in easy points for them.”
Eula hit four 3-pointers in the first quarter as the Lady Pirates jumped out to a 19-13 lead by the end of the quarter.
They only hit two more 3s the rest of the game, however, and Eula head coach Josh Fostel credited Garden City’s defense for that.
“It’s hard to play the entire game the way they make you play and still shoot the ball well,” Fostel said. “It’s a marathon against those guys. They’re so relentless, and no lead is really safe. …
“I’m really proud we never let them have that huge run. Usually teams that play like that, all of a sudden they’ll get a 10 or 12-0 run. I’m just proud of our girls. We have senior guards and experienced guards, and that’s what helps you win deep in the playoffs.”
After Eula extended its lead to 11 points in the third quarter, the Lady Pirates never allowed Garden City to get within six the rest of the way, though the Lady Kats were always within striking distance.
Garden City was led by junior Karly Baker with 18 points and junior Emy Schwartz with 11.
Eula had a balanced effort, led by senior Laney Fostel with 13, senior Hailie Cauthen with 12 and junior Emma Damron with 11.
The new UIL playoff format, which splits classifications into two divisions, did no favors to Eula. The Lady Pirates’ playoff run began with a win over No. 7 Westbrook, which spent much of the year ranked No. 1.
“That was a shame, because neither one of us should’ve gone home after a game, but it happened, and these girls accepted the challenge,” Fostel said. “The new format, I’m not a big fan because of Westbrook, but I’m glad we didn’t have to play Garden City and then the next day Hermleigh at a regional tournament, so there’s some good and some bad.”
For Garden City, it was a memorable season that included a 19-game winning streak that wasn’t snapped until a road loss at No. 18 Irion County.
The Lady Kats will return their entire roster except for senior Brylon Frerich.
“It was an awesome season,” Bates said. “The team we just played would be a lot of coaches’ pick to win it all, and we’re rooting for them. They were good sports out there. Coach Fostel is a class act. I hope we just knocked out by the state champions.”
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