Pflugerville High’s Nneka Enemkpali played a meaningful game on her home basketball court for the first time in close to a year Tuesday. You would have never guessed it by her performance. The talented Panther junior post scored 16 points, grabbed three rebounds and blocked three shots as she helped Pflugerville to a 79-50 pounding of District 25-5A foe Akins.

“I try not to get too excited (about her return),” Panther coach Nancy Walling said of Enemkpali. “We are thrilled to have her back. I’m so proud of the year the girls have had without her. Now our possibilities are endless.”

The all-state Enemkpali injured her knee in last year’s 5A state semi-final game and did not return to the court until last Friday when she made her season debut in Pflugerville’s win over Austin High. Without her the Panthers were 22-5 and atop their district with a 9-1 mark. They have now won both games with her and stand at 24-5 and 11-1 on the year.

While Enemkpali played an expanded role against the Eagles (15-14, 6-6), she was hardly the only threat for the Panthers. As they have done all season, Adesuwa Ebomwonyi and Christie Mooney had big nights for Pflugerville. Ebomwonyi led the team with 18 points and 11 rebounds. She also tallied three assists and two steals. Mooney finished with 10 points and four steals. Curteisha Woods dropped in 12 points while Ari Booth came off the bench to add 11 more.

The Panthers actually trailed early in the game as the Eagles jumped out to an 8-2 advantage two minutes into the first quarter. Pflugerville answered with an 18-4 run to close the opening stanza and led 20-12 after one. Itiana Taylor got the rally started with a couple free throws. Ebomwonyi and Woods then picked up the scoring slack and when Enemkpali dropped in her first home-court field goal with just under three minutes to play in the quarter the Panthers were up 13-12.

“We turned the ball over,” Walling said of her team’s slow start. “We did a good job of making defensive adjustments. We had Nneka altering some shots which doesn’t hurt.”

Pflugerville kept rolling through the second quarter, getting five straight points from Enemkpali to take a 27-16 lead. Booth scored back-to-back baskets late in the quarter and the Panthers took a 37-20 lead in with them at intermission.

The Pflugerville lead was 39-22 early in the third period when Taylor sparked a 12-0 run with two points. Ebomwonyi added a put-back basket and Mooney made a nice steal which led her to a layup. By the time the Panthers were done they were up 51-22. Booth, who has the ability to generate points in a hurry, put five on the scoreboard in under a minute to push Pflugerville’s lead to 58-24. Akins closed the quarter with an 8-0 run of their own but still trailed 58-32 going into the final quarter of play.

Enemkpali made a curtain call in the opening minutes of the final frame, scoring five points and converting a three-point play. With just under six minutes remaining in the game Woods took a pass from Mooney and scored two more points, putting the Panthers up 70-35 and sending their starters to the bench for the final time.