CASEY GEORG Special to the Press
LA GRANGE — Tuesday’s matchup between the Shiner Lady Comanches (32-2) and Thrall Tigerettes (22-13) was a battle of quickness versus size.
Shiner featured a much taller line-up, but the Tigerettes countered with a great deal of quickness. In the end, the size difference and turnovers proved to be too much for Thrall to overcome as they bowed out of the playoffs 59-33.
“We knew going in that we had three things to do: out-rebound them, cut down on our turnovers and establish an inside game,” said Thrall Head Coach Katina Walker. “Shiner controlled the boards, we went cold from the field at the wrong time, and we had too many turnovers.”
Thrall got off to a quick start, leading 5-0 in the opening minutes of the first quarter. But, Shiner bounced back with a 19-0 run to grab the lead for good. But, the Tigerettes refused to quit, however. Over the next three minutes, Thrall outscored the Lady Comanches 11-2 and cut the lead to 21-16 with just under a minute to play in the first half. Shiner eventually pushed the lead to 28-19 at the half.
“We had some spurts of greatness, but we just could not hold on,” Coach Walker said. “I believe we ran them and got them tired.
Unfortunately, we could not finish in the paint.”
In the second half, the Tigerettes struggled to get shots off against the taller Lady Comanches. Hitting just 25 percent in the final two periods, while Shiner shot 41% in the second half. Turnover also proved costly in the second half. Shiner converted nine Thrall turnovers into 12 points in the last two quarters, which allowed them to pull away.
“Tonight was not our night, but we kept fighting until the end,” said Coach Walker.
Shiner’s defense did a great job shutting down Ashlyn Jarosek.
Playing her final game in a Thrall jersey, Shiner held Jarosek to four points on two of 10 shooting. Nevaeh Irvin picked up some of the slack for the Tigerettes with 14 points. She, Jarosek, and CeCe Walker also pulled down seven rebounds each in the loss.
Thrall will welcome back everyone next year, except Jarosek, who will take her game to the next level at East Texas Baptist University in Marshall. That should make the jump to Class 3A in 2024 a little easier, but a tougher district will offer a challenge for the Tigerettes.
