On Friday, February 1, the Lady Rockets (30-5) took on the Smithson Valley Lady Rangers (25-7) in a key district matchup at Smithson Valley High School.

The Lady Rockets won the district championship outright on Tuesday, January 29 with a 60-28 win over New Braunfels.

Right off the bat in the first quarter, senior Corina Carter was sat out for the rest of the game and the Rangers took advantage of that, with freshman Gabby Elliot and junior Brianna Grell going in for a layup each and junior Anika McGarity sinking a three. The Rockets found themselves in an early hole, down 9-2. Junior Torrie Palomino for the Rangers added to their lead with a three, but the Lady Rockets refused to stay down for much longer. Junior Teanna Huggins moved up into the paint for a jump shot. Later, sophomore Kierra Sanderlin moved into Carter’s position and sank a three to end the first only down 12-9.

In the second quarter, the action picked up. Huggins and senior Tiffany McGarity both went up for two points and the Rockets now led 13-12. Huggins went in for two more layups before another Ranger timeout to push the lead to 17-14. After McGarity went one for one at the line, she sank a three to go into halftime up 21-18.

In the third quarter, the Rangers started to take advantage of the Rockets’ mistakes. After a Rocket turnover, sophomore Trinity Garrett went down the court and sank a three to start the second half. Sanderlin answered quickly with one of her own. Garrett then went down the court for a quick layup. Senior Kyra White made her first three of the game for the Rockets. Then Ranger’s star senior guard Ashley Adaszczyk sank her first three of the game to end the third quarter. Judson led Smithson Valley, 32-30.

In the fourth quarter, it seemed like the Rockets were beginning to pull away. After Elliot went in for two layups for the Rangers, both White and McGarity sank threes for the Rockets and Sanderlin went in for a layup to make the score 40-34. The Rangers answered with a few scores of their own with a McGarity jump shot, a Grell layup and a Garrett three to make the score 41-40. With the clock winding down with under 10 seconds to go, McGarity ran all the way down the court for a Rocket layup to go up 42-41. After a Ranger timeout, the Rangers’ Anika McGarity passed the ball to Garrett and ran down the court to the three-point line. However, she passed back to McGarity, who was left wide open on the far side. She then proceeded to sink the game-winning score, beating the Lady Rockets 44-42 in an epic game

The Lady Rockets will remain the top team in the district despite the loss and will enter the playoffs with the number one seed. The Lady Rockets will end the regular season tomorrow at home against the Canyon Lady Cougars (12-15).