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PLAYOFF ROUND-UP: A look at Ellis County girls’ basketball ahead of round one

By Travis M. Smith | KBEC Sports

WAXAHACHIE

The Waxahachie Lady Indians missed the postseason under first-year head coach Ashlaa Zuniga in a stacked District 7-6A. 

The Lady Indians placed seventh with a 2-11 record, which was two games better than (0-13) Grand Prairie and two back of (4-10) Mansfield. DeSoto, South Grand Prairie, Cedar Hill and Mansfield Summit will represent 7-6A in the postseason. 

MIDLOTHIAN

Despite losing standout junior guard Kierra Middleton to an early-season ACL tear, the Midlothian Lady Panthers finished comfortably in second place behind No. 3 Red Oak in District 14-5A with a 10-2 mark.

Midlothian wrapped up its regular season with a 70-29 victory against Ennis to finish the regular season 17-10 overall.  

Head coach Amy Tennison and the Lady Panthers will square off with Mesquite Poteet at 6:15 p.m. Tuesday at Cedar Hill High School in a 5A Region II bi-district championship. 

RED OAK

Red Oak steamrolled through District 14-5A to a perfect 12-0 record and did it by outscoring the opposition 67.6 points per game to 28.2 — yes, that’s nearly a difference of 40 points per game. 

At 24-6 on the season, the Lady Hawks will also enter the postseason as the third-ranked team in the final TABC 5A poll and the top-ranked team in all of 5A Region II. The stage is set for sophomore Breanna Davis (15.6 ppg, 5.8 reb, 5.4 asst, 3.8 stl) and Aniyah Johnson (9.9 ppg, 8.9 reb) to lead the Lady Hawks to San Antonio. 

But first, Red Oak will face West Mesquite in a 5A Region II bi-district championship at 7 p.m. Monday at DeSoto High School. Red Oak will be the away team. 

ENNIS

The Ennis Lady Lions missed the postseason after finishing District 14-5A in seventh place with a 1-11 record. 

MIDLOTHIAN HERITAGE

Midlothian Heritage clinched a district championship with two games to spare and ultimately finished District 17-4A action with a perfect 10-0 mark. The Jaguars outscored their district foes 575-323 in the process — or a whopping 57.5 points per game to 32.3. 

The Jaguars will face Lorena in a 4A Region III bi-district championship at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Glen Rose High School. 

LIFE WAXAHACHIE

Life Waxahachie was forced to play a play-in game Friday night against Alvarado to determine the third and fourth seeds in District 17-4A, as both teams ended the regular season with a 5-5 mark in 17-4A. 

Hillsboro ultimately won the play-in game, moving Life Waxahachie to fourth in the 17-4A playoff standings. 

The Lady Mustangs will now face Gatesville ina 4A Region III bi-district championship at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 18 in Glen Rose. 

FERRIS

Despite having just four seniors, the Ferris Lady Yellowjackets finished the regular season with a 19-13 record and impressive 7-3 mark in District 17-4A — good enough to be the runner-up to Midlothian Heritage in the final district standings and two games clear of Hillsboro and Life Waxahachie. 

The Lady Yellowjackets will face China Spring at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Keene High School in a 4A Region II bi-district championship. 

PALMER

The Palmer Lady Bulldogs missed the postseason after finishing sixth in District 18-3A. Their 3-11 mark was one game better than seventh-place Blooming Grove and two ahead of eighth-place Rice.

Palmer was five wins short of fourth-place Kemp in a district won by state-ranked Malakoff, who ran the table on the district and finished 14-0.

MAYPEARL

The Maypearl Lady Panthers quietly put together quite the season and will enter the 3A postseason as the second seed from District 17-3A. 

Maypearl finished the district slate with an 11-3 mark and 24-7 overall, just behind No. 14 (28-5, 12-2) Grandview. The Lady Panthers lost both times to the Lady Zebras during the district slate by seven combined points. 

Hadlee Gibson and Sol Cabuto lead the charge averaging 11.7 and 11.2 points per game. 

The Lady Panthers will face Scurry-Rosser — the third-place team out of District 18-3A — at 7 p.m. Monday at Ennis High School.

ITALY

The Italy Lady Gladiators are headed back to the 2A basketball postseason under first-year head coach Rolandrus Raindle. 

Italy bounced back from a winless season to forget last season to post a 19-11 overall record and 4-6 mark in District 19-2A — good enough for a third-place finish. Kerens won the district with a perfect 10-0 mark, while Cayuga finished second at 6-4. 

The Lady Gladiators will face Centerville at 6:30 p.m. Monday at Corsicana High School, which just so happens to be Raindle’s alma mater.

AVALON

The Avalon Lady Eagles missed the postseason in District 27-1A.

MILFORD

The Milford Lady Bulldogs missed the postseason in District 27-1A.

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Travis M. Smith, @Travis5mith

tsmith@kbec.com

About Travis M. Smith

Travis M. Smith is the owner and content director of Ellis County Sports and has over a decade of award-winning sports coverage. He most recently served as the digital sports director for KBEC 1390AM/99.1FM. He is the former managing editor of the Waxahachie Daily Light, Midlothian Mirror and Glen Rose Reporter.

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