What a regular season it has been for the Fillies! This past week the Fillies wrapped up regular season play by taking on the Lady Apaches of TJC, and the Lady Rangers of Kilgore.
On Wednesday, March 1, 2023 the Fillies went to Tyler. Looking to even the seasons' meetings, the Fillies came out on a mission. This game was nothing short of an exciting one. With 3 ties and 7 lead changes, this game was every bit competitive. The Lady Apaches open up with an and-1 opportunity and convert from #5- Anahlynn Murray. However, after that, the Fillies were able to control the game early. Finding themselves up by as much as 8 points late in the first quarter. The first quarter of play ended with a last minute buzzer beater 3 pointer by the Lady Apaches, and the Fillies up by 5, 20-15.
Going into the second quarter, both teams had a rhythm offensively. The Lady Apaches would close the gap and take the lead, and the Fillies were there to recapture it. #2- Victoria Dixon for the Lady Apaches was the answer for them early on, and #11-Avery Young was the answer for the Fillies. The Fillies were able to survive the second quarter and go into halftime up 2 on the road, 35-33.
Resuming play after the half, the Fillies go on a 7-2 run. The Fillies put together a nice scoring run, but the Lady Apaches came surging back gaining a 2 point lead to take them into the fourth quarter of play.
The fourth quarter of play was close. To start the fourth, the score was 51-53. After scoring a few baskets, both teams were knotted at 55. The Lady Apaches went on a run, and the Fillies were able to close the Lead to 3, but from here a few too many offensive rebounds were given up and the Fillies just ran out of time. The final from Tyler was 77-66.
On Saturday, March 4, 2023 the Fillies celebrated Senior Day. The Fillies hosted the Lady Rangers of Kilgore. Both teams struggled for the first couple of minutes of the game. However, the scoring was able to pick up. The first quarter was almost dead even in scoring leaving the Fillies down by 1, 14-13.
The second quarter of play was much of the same, but both teams came out firing. Both #13- Jazmyn Sostand for the Lady Rangers and #11- Avery Young for the Fillies both got hot from the 3. After twenty minutes of play the score was 36-32 in favor of the Lady Rangers.
To kick things back off after halftime. The Fillies were right back to it with more exciting basketball. Score-stop-score was the Motto. With this, the Fillies were able to win the third quarter of play. The Fillies were able to go into the fourth just down 2 with a score of 52-50.
The fourth quarter was decided in the last few minutes of play. While right within striking range for most of the quarter, the Fillies just weren't able to gain the lead. The Final from Carthage was 71-64.
A look ahead: The Fillies finished the regular season of play with a 17-12 record overall and 8-8 in conference play. This earned them the 5th seed going into the Region 14 Tournament. The Fillies will take on the 4th seed, Angelina, Wednesday, March 8, 2023 in Tyler, TX.
Tournament Information below:
All tournament tickets will be sold online using the Apache Athletics Ticketing service, HomeTown Ticketing, at https://www.apacheathletics.com/tickets
Ticket prices for each session will be $8 for adults, $5 for students (must present a student ID) and children under 12, and free for children under 5. A tournament pass will be available for $40.
Each day will feature two sessions with Session 1 games at 1:00/3:00 PM and Session 2 games at 6:00/8:00 PM each day except for Championship Saturday. Session 1 on Saturday will be 4:00 PM and Session 2 will be at 7:00 PM.
All games will be streamed through the NJCAA Network at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/tylerjc/
The tournament website is hosted through the Region XIV website at https://njcaaregion14.com/sports/NJCAA_Region_XIV_Basketball_Tournament_2023