Masterson strikes gold

Hendrickson High’s Natasha Masterson made herself right at home on what will be her college track.

The senior Hawk, and future Texas Longhorn, vaulted 12 feet, winning the pole vault in June at the state track meet at Mike A. Myers Stadium on the campus of the University of Texas.

“It was kind of a surprise,” she said. “I went out at an earlier height than I’d expected so it was kind of scary. But when I found out I’d won, I was ambushed with handshakes and that was awesome. It still hasn’t hit me all the way, but it was amazing. It was definitely very, very nerve wracking, but I enjoyed being put in that situation. It was the perfect way to finish my high school career.”

In all eight PISD track athletes qualified for the state meet. Connally high jumper Keith Benford was the only other one to bring home a medal. He jumped 6 feet, 10-inches in the 5A high jump to claim second place.

Panthers reach state semifinals

There is an old adage in basketball, it goes something like “you can’t teach height.” The Pflugerville High girls basketball team learned this lesson too well in March at the Erwin Center.

Playing in the 5A state semifinals, the Panthers had no answer for Houston Nimitz 6-foot-8-inch center Brittney Griner, who scored 44 points, grabbed 18 boards and tallied eight blocks, to lead the Cougars past Pflugerville 74-47 and into the state finals the next night.

After falling behind 14-4 the Panthers made a 10-3 run and trailed 17-14 after one quarter.

“The girls realized that we could play with them and loosened up,” Pflugerville coach Nancy Walling said of her team’s run. “We were very excited going into the dressing room at halftime. Our team was fired up and ready to play, and believed that they had a chance.”

While the Panthers trailed at intermission, they did prove they could hang with the Cougars. However, just seconds into the second half, disaster struck for Pflugerville as Enemkpali turned her knee and fell to the floor. The injury was severe enough she had to limp to the locker room and only returned to the court late in the fourth quarter wearing street clothes and walking on crutches.

Without their lone six-footer, the Panthers had no answer for Griner. The tallest player on the court and reportedly the No. 1 female high school basketball player in the state took over the game. She scored six straight points, including a dunk, to push her team’s lead to 44-32. She finished with 12 third quarter points putting the Panthers in a 54-38 hole entering the final quarter.

“We didn’t have the manpower to go up against her after Nneka went down,” Walling said. “The girls did all that we asked them to do, but against a Nimitz team that came to play on Friday, it wasn’t enough.”

After Ebomwonyi scored off a pass from Martin to start the fourth quarter, Griner answered by scoring her team’s next eight points, helping them to a 63-42 advantage. Pflugerville, never a team to quit, struck back one more time. Senior Shaniqua Adams knocked down a three to cut the deficit to 63-45, but from that moment forward, the game belonged to Griner. She finished the quarter with eight more points, setting the 5A tournament record for points scored in a game in the process.

The game was the final game for many senior Panthers including Martin, Adams, Williams and Sarah Kimbrough.

“They were our leaders on and off the floor,” Walling added. “I couldn’t have asked for a better group of girls. They were role models in the classroom, in the community and on the court. They had great basketball skills, knowledge of the game, instinct and most important were their positive attitude and determination to help this team reach it’s goals of winning a state championship. We didn’t achieve their ultimate goal, but got dang close, and we’re very proud of them.”

Nimitz fell in the championship game 52-43 to Mansfield Summit. Griner scored 22 points in the game.

Cougars fall in region finals

The Connally Cougars’ remarkable season came to an inglorious end in April, as the Cougars fell 4-1 to Brownsville Lopez in the Region IV-5A finals at the Blossom Athletic Center.
The loss came less than 24 hours after what was probably the highest point of Connally’s great season, a 2-1 win over La Joya on penalty kicks in the semifinals.
“Lopez was a very good team,” Cougar coach John Mark Edwards said. “They play a very similar style to what we do. I knew it was going to be a good match.”
The Cougars fell behind 2-0 to Lopez before Hugo Gomez scored their only goal in the 35th minute of the second half. That was as close as Connally could get as the Lobos added goals in the 28th and eighth minutes to seal the win.
“It was much closer than that,” Edwards said. “We were unlucky to not have scored twice in the first five minutes. They were lucky to have scored their first two goals on rebounds in the box, like they did. But, that’s soccer. Some days luck is on your side, some days luck is with the other team.”
On the same field just one day earlier, the Cougars had reached the highest of highs. Connally battled La Joya High to two scoreless halves of soccer, followed by two scoreless 10-minute overtime periods. In the ensuing shootout, Connally fell behind 1-0, but on their third kick, Kevin Del Aguila put the ball in the net to knot the score at 1-1.
Thanks to the great stops by Cougar keeper Brooks Grubb, the Coyotes did not score again, allowing Matt Dunn the chance to beat La Joya’s keeper on the sixth kick of the shootout and put Connally up 2-1. The Coyotes were shooting last, which meant they had one more chance, but Grubb came out of his box and stopped the shot.

of Ernesto Chapa, preserving the Connally win and sending the Cougars and their rooting section into hysteria.
“The team played real hard Friday night,” Edwards said.  “The win was an awesome feeling that none of us involved will ever forget. I would like to have played Lopez rested but that’s not the way it turned out.
Connally finishes the year with a 19-5-4 record. They won their district and reached the region finals. Not a bad finish considering it was their first year playing as a 5A school.
“The coaching staff felt that making the play offs was a realistic and reachable goal,” Edwards said. “That was what we set out to do. With each and every game that we played the team could see that just making the playoffs wasn’t all this team was capable of. It was as if the players could sense that this was going to be a special year, from the beginning.  Winning district by going undefeated and making it all the way to the regional finals was very, very special. It was an honor to have been a part of this team.”
The loss marks the end of the line for 12 Connally seniors who have been a big part of lifting the Cougar soccer program up to the heights it reached this year, including back-to-back district titles. Such Connally stalwarts as Marco Alcocer, David Payne, Hugo Gomez and Dunn played their final game last week. Edwards says all the seniors will be missed.
“This senior class is amazing,” he said. “It was a privilege to get to coach them this year. The most amazing part about the team and these seniors is how hard each of them worked on a daily basis.  Especially the guys on the team that didn’t play much but worked exceptionally hard.  Our team’s success can be greatly attributed to the work ethic of the guys who didn’t get to play. They really pushed the guys on the field.  And the guys on the field wanted to win for the ones that didn’t get on the field as much as they would have liked. The coaches and I received so many compliments from other coaches, players, officials, administrators, and people in restaurants on how well behaved and classy the team is. That’s all due to the classy example that these seniors are for younger players. This senior class has been part of the best two teams in the history of Connally soccer. The program will really miss them.  But, as one departing senior told the team after the Lopez game concluded, ‘I have a challenge for you: Do better than we did.  We’ll be at your games.  Make us proud.’  That will be these seniors’ legacy. They always fought to the end, they raised the bar for the future of this program, and they want to see the guys who come after them do better than they did. Because that is the class act that they are.”
Connally reached the region tournament with a 4-1 victory over San Antonio Warren in the quarterfinals last Tuesday.
The Cougars jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the Warren game and never looked back. Johnathan Campuzano booted in Connally’s second goal in the 36th minute of the second half and then scored again on a header off a free kick which had been booted toward the goal by Carlos Hernandez.
The three goals were plenty for Grubb and the Cougar defense although they did give up the team’s first score of the playoffs with four minutes left in the game.

Hawks enjoy great season

The Hendrickson High baseball season came to an end in late May, the Hawks victims of the stellar pitching of Kerrville Tivy’s Logan Vick, who pitched the Antlers to a 4-2 win.

The Baylor-bound Vick scattered eight hits (four of which came in the final two innings) and struck out 11 to lead his team into the regional quarterfinals.

Despite Vick’s heroics on the hill, the Hawks had a chance to win the game. Trailing 2-1 going into the bottom of the sixth inning, the Hendrickson hitters briefly solved the Vick problem. Justin Lightfoot led the inning off with a single and with one out Hawk Sam Swartz blasted a shot to left-center field. The ball almost cleared the fence, but ended up careening off the top of it. By the time the dust settled, Swartz was safely at third base and Lightfoot had crossed home plate to tie the contest at 2-2.

Travis Tuck later ripped a single for an RBI, giving the Antlers a 3-2 lead. After a Hawk error, Tyler Meyer came into score on a fielder’s choice, putting Tivy up 4-2 heading into the final half-inning.

The Hawks looked to rally in their part of the seventh. Tyler Havins led the inning off with a single, but Mueller grounded into a double play, leaving Eric Garcia as Hendrickson’s last hope. Garcia sprayed a single down the third-base line. Lightfoot followed him to the plate and popped up to the Tivy second baseman, ending the game and Hendrickson’s season in the process.

The Antlers drew first blood in the game. Kyle Burnhard lined an opposite field single to drive in Andy Kinson in the top of the second to put Tivy up 1-0. The Hawks’ equalizer came in the bottom of the fourth. Garcia led the inning off with a single then moved to second when Lightfoot reached on an error on the Antler left fielder. Todd Foster moved both runners up with a bunt and Swartz beat out an infield hit to bring Garcia home, tying the game. The damage could have been much worse. The Hawks still had two men on with just one out, but Vick settled down and fanned the next two Hendrickson hitters to escape the jam with the score still tied.

Shawn Kibbit then sparked an Antler rally in the top of the fifth by drawing a walk off Hawk starter Seidenberger. Seidenberger struck out Vick, but allowed three more Antlers to reach, and one run to score, before being pulled for Mueller. Mueller came into the game and quickly stopped the bleeding striking out consecutive Antler hitters to get Hendrickson out of the lead with just a 2-1 deficit.

Judson ends Panther run

Sometimes your season ends with a roar, other times with a whimper. Unfortunately for the Pflugerville High boys basketball team, the conclusion to their year fell into the latter category as they lost 47-34 to Converse Judson in the region quarterfinal round of the 5A playoffs.

The game was an offensive struggle for both teams, as they combined for 12 first-quarter points and just 24 total points in the first half. Going into the contest, Panther coach Mike Murphy thought points would be in short supply.

“We knew going in we had two top defensive teams and it would be tough for either team to score,” he said. “It was the same way when we played earlier in the year plus you have young kids put pressure on themselves to perform.”

The Panthers also had to deal with the fact they were the only team to beat the Rockets (36-1) this season. Judson was not only refusing to look past them, they also were looking for a bit of payback.

“We felt confident in what we do,” Murphy said. “It was one game a long time ago. It was probably more motivation for them. What you do not factor in is shooting 30 percent.”

The poor shooting was a team-wide problem for Pflugerville. Their leading scorer, Deon Mitchell, struggled to put the ball in the basket all night and finished with one point. Second-leading scorer Demetrius Smith had six points as did senior guard Jon Garza. Brian Todd led the Panthers with 17 points. Judson was led by post Chris Wacker who finished with 20. Alex Lewis added 11.

The game was the end of the line for four Panthers, including Todd and Garza. Osas Ebomwonyi and Freddie Parks also saw their Pflugerville careers conclude. Murphy said the group will be hard to replace.

“Osas Ebomwonyi, Brian Todd and Jonathan Garza have been with us throughout and all have had great junior and senior years and have experienced winning and being successful,” Murphy said. “They will be missed because they provided a calm leadership and ethics. They were good on and off the court which is what we all strive for.”

Still, the future looks bright for a Pflugerville squad that finished the year with a 33-4 mark and were the undefeated champions of their new district. Eleven players from their roster Wednesday night are underclassmen, including the team’s top two scorers.

“The future continues to look bright,” Murphy added. “We should continue to be strong at the guard spots and our two leading scorers return with Deon Mitchell and Demetrius Smith. Still with a handful of players in football we have to find a good nucleus of leaders to continue our traditions of winning.”

Judson suffered their second, and final loss of the season, falling 63-61 to San Antonio Southwest last Friday in the region semi-final.

Hawks soar to regional quarters

Hendrickson’s bats, however, mighty for most of the season, were uncharacteristically silent against Dripping Springs in the region quarterfinal matchup. Hendrickson did get eight hits off Dripping Springs starter Katie Wood but could not push across one run as they fell 1-0, ending their season in the process.

The one inning that proved to be the undoing of the Hawks and their pitcher Kirsten Warner was the second. Warner gave up a leadoff single to Tiger Aspen Haren, who stole second and moved to third on a ground out. Warner managed to get the next hitter to pop up to the first baseman. Dripping Springs Cassie Carol was next up and she provided the game’s lone RBI, ripping a single to center field that plated Haren.

The Hawks had plenty of chances to score, including a two-hit rally in the final inning.

A.J. Baggerly led the game off with an infield single. With one out she was forced out at second base on a Hanson ground ball. Briane Wesley followed Hanson with back-to-back singles that loaded the bases. As she did all game, Wood bent but did not break. She struck out Peyton Hughes to end the inning with no Hawk runs on the board.

The Hawks managed base hits in the second, third and fifth innings but could not get any of the base runners past second base.

Baggerly turned in two great defensive plays in the sixth inning, taking away Tiger hits both times. She was injured in the top of the seventh trying to turn a double play when Carol slid into her at second base. After spending a couple minutes on the ground, Baggerly was helped off the field and did not return.