The Mount Pleasant Lady Tigers went into the Region II 5A tournament knowing they had the largest target on their back. Although one of the other regional teams has claimed a state championship and the other two teams had been to the state tournament, it was the undefeated Lady Tigers who garnered the most interest from the other teams because of their lengthy win streak and the zero in the loss column.
The Lady Tigers accepted the risk and took the court at Garland’s Curtis Culwell Center and took on the only team to win the state championship – Frisco Liberty Friday evening for a trip to the regional final.
The Lady Tigers showed their mettle, but Liberty’s height and length proved to be the deciding factor in the first regional semifinal as the Lady Redhawks finished the game on a 22-14 run to pick up a 41-30 win and end Mount Pleasant’s undefeated season.
Liberty leaned on their players who stood at 6’2 or taller – Jacy Abii and Za’naiha Hensley – to win on the boards and used their team length to jump into the Lady Tiger passing lanes and alter shots after Mount Pleasant played them to nearly a stalemate in the first half. However, the Lady Redhawks started the second half with an 8-2 run to extend their lead and maintained control with their press defense the rest of the evening.
Liberty would go on to claim the Region II title after defeating McKinney North, who won their semifinal over Frisco Memorial following the Liberty-Mount Pleasant game.
Aziyah Farrier led Mount Pleasant with 16 points.Jordyn Hargrave added seven. Auti Johnson finished with four and Paris Beard scored three.
Keyera Roseby led Liberty with 14 points. Abii added 12 and Hensley scored seven.
The Lady Tigers’ season ends at 36-1. It was the final game for seniors Paris Beard, Jordyn Hargrave, Kendall Walker and Morgan “Pinkie” Brooks.