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Season sweep: Lone Star makes quick work of Lady Bobcats
BY Chris O’Dell, codell@starlocalnews.com
FRISCO – The tables have definitely turned for Celina and Frisco Lone Star since the Lady Bobcats earned a 48-37 victory last season in the second round of the playoffs.
The two teams have met twice this season and the Lady Rangers improved to 2-0 against Celina after a 54-33 shellacking on Friday.
“There was a lot of emotion involved,” said Katie Stinton, Lone Star head coach. “There were four pretty special girls playing their last home game and they wanted to make this a special memory.”
Lone Star used that emotion to storm out of the gate with a dominant opening quarter that put the Lady Bobcats into a huge hole from the early going. Celina managed to make just one shot from the field in the first eight minutes, with a 3-pointer from junior guard Lauren Edwards accounting for three of the team’s four points in the frame.
That lack of offense allowed Lone Star to build a 20-4 lead after the first quarter, and Celina would never get back into contention from there.
Senior forward Deja Snell nearly doubled Celina’s total offensive output in the opening quarter by pouring in seven of her game-high 17 points during that span. Junior forward Whitney Apari also scored 17 points in the contest, becoming one of three Lady Rangers in double figures after senior guard B’ria Wagner added 12 of her own.
“This was pretty special,” Stinton said. “Our district is filled with talent so it feels good to be in the position we are now.”
The second quarter was much of the same for both teams, with Celina struggling at the offensive end while Lone Star widened its lead with a 15-point quarter. That disparity gave the Lady Bobcats a 35-10 halftime deficit.
“[The win] definitely put us in a good spot,” Stinton said. “We control our own destiny.”
Celina came out of the locker room looking like a different team and went toe-to-toe with the Lady Rangers for the final two quarters. However, the early deficit would prove to be too much, as 18 points would be the closest the Lady Bobcats would get.
A 9-0 run early in the fourth made it a 50-32 game after back-to-back layups from Celina junior guard Sarah Cantu. Apari ended the run with a pair of free throws at the 2:35 mark, giving her team a 54-33 victory and putting Lone Star one win away from a district championship.
“It’s not over yet,” Stinton said. “We need to win these last two games.”
The Lady Rangers sealed their championship on Tuesday by defeating Argyle, 45-32, behind a team-high 14 points from Snell. The victory improved Lone Star to 28-5 on the season and 7-0 against district counterparts.
“We’re peaking at the right time,” Stinton said. “We’ve had an awesome last three weeks. Hopefully we can continue that.”
Celina rebounded from Friday’s loss by earning a dominant 56-34 win over Aubrey that featured a 26-7 first-quarter lead. The Lady Bobcats finish district with a Feb. 5 regular season finale against Argyle.
The team will first play Lindsay Friday at 6:30 p.m. in a non-district affair.
The two teams have met twice this season and the Lady Rangers improved to 2-0 against Celina after a 54-33 shellacking on Friday.
“There was a lot of emotion involved,” said Katie Stinton, Lone Star head coach. “There were four pretty special girls playing their last home game and they wanted to make this a special memory.”
Lone Star used that emotion to storm out of the gate with a dominant opening quarter that put the Lady Bobcats into a huge hole from the early going. Celina managed to make just one shot from the field in the first eight minutes, with a 3-pointer from junior guard Lauren Edwards accounting for three of the team’s four points in the frame.
That lack of offense allowed Lone Star to build a 20-4 lead after the first quarter, and Celina would never get back into contention from there.
Senior forward Deja Snell nearly doubled Celina’s total offensive output in the opening quarter by pouring in seven of her game-high 17 points during that span. Junior forward Whitney Apari also scored 17 points in the contest, becoming one of three Lady Rangers in double figures after senior guard B’ria Wagner added 12 of her own.
“This was pretty special,” Stinton said. “Our district is filled with talent so it feels good to be in the position we are now.”
The second quarter was much of the same for both teams, with Celina struggling at the offensive end while Lone Star widened its lead with a 15-point quarter. That disparity gave the Lady Bobcats a 35-10 halftime deficit.
“[The win] definitely put us in a good spot,” Stinton said. “We control our own destiny.”
Celina came out of the locker room looking like a different team and went toe-to-toe with the Lady Rangers for the final two quarters. However, the early deficit would prove to be too much, as 18 points would be the closest the Lady Bobcats would get.
A 9-0 run early in the fourth made it a 50-32 game after back-to-back layups from Celina junior guard Sarah Cantu. Apari ended the run with a pair of free throws at the 2:35 mark, giving her team a 54-33 victory and putting Lone Star one win away from a district championship.
“It’s not over yet,” Stinton said. “We need to win these last two games.”
The Lady Rangers sealed their championship on Tuesday by defeating Argyle, 45-32, behind a team-high 14 points from Snell. The victory improved Lone Star to 28-5 on the season and 7-0 against district counterparts.
“We’re peaking at the right time,” Stinton said. “We’ve had an awesome last three weeks. Hopefully we can continue that.”
Celina rebounded from Friday’s loss by earning a dominant 56-34 win over Aubrey that featured a 26-7 first-quarter lead. The Lady Bobcats finish district with a Feb. 5 regular season finale against Argyle.
The team will first play Lindsay Friday at 6:30 p.m. in a non-district affair.
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