The Sunnyvale girls basketball team is heading back to the state tournament for the first time since 2015 after winning the Class 4A Region II tournament on Saturday.
The Sunnyvale girls basketball team is heading back to the state tournament for the first time since 2015 after winning the Class 4A Region II tournament on Saturday.
The Sunnyvale girls basketball team has enjoyed plenty of success during the last dozen years.
But after winning the 3A championship in 2015, a return to the state tournament has proven elusive.
That is, until this season.
The Raiders have been rolling all season long and they have saved their best for the right time of the year.
On Saturday, Sunnyvale punched its ticket to the state tournament as it earned a 51-36 victory over Pinkston in the Class 4A Region II championship game at the Texas A&M-Commerce Field House.
Sunnyvale advances to the state tournament, which will be held on Thursday through Saturday at the Alamodome.
The difference in the game was the second quarter.
The Raiders led by one after the first eight minutes, but turned up the intensity in the second, reeling off a 20-5 run to open a 30-14 lead.
While the second half was evenly-played, that first-half advantage was too much for Pinkston to overcome.
Micah Russell continued her strong playoff run with 23 points, Alli McAda was in double figures with 10 and Nilaya Gordon and Destiny Arinze added six and five, respectively.
On Friday, Sunnyvale had cruised to a 44-18 victory over Godley in the regional semifinals.
The Raiders held Godley to three points in the first quarter and extended the lead to 21-7 at halftime. Sunnyvale effectively put it away in the third quarter with a 15-5 run.
Russell provided more than half of Sunnyvale’s scoring with 23 points, McAda had 14 and Gordon chipped in with six.
The Raiders (32-6), the No. 8 team in the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches Class 4A state poll, will join a loaded field in San Antonio.
Sunnyvale will face No. 2 Boerne (35-1) in a state semifinal game at 3 p.m. Friday. That game will follow the other semifinal pitting No. 1 Glen Rose (39-1) and No. 3 Waco La Vega (36-5).
The two winners of those games will meet at 7 p.m. Saturday to determine the Class 4A championship.
Get the Mesquite News in your inbox!
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
For continued coverage on the local sports scene, follow Devin Hasson on Twitter: @DevinHasson. Email Devin with sports story suggestions at dhasson@starlocalmedia.com.
You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login.
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism
that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness
accounts, the history behind an article.
Post a comment as anonymous
Report
Watch this discussion.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.