The Port Arthur Memorial Lady Titans are headed to the Class 6A playoffs as the third place team out of District 21-6A.
Memorial used a strong second quarter to get past West Brook 59-48 at Thomas Jefferson Middle School. The Lady Titans (18-12, 7-5) outscored the Lady Bruins 21-9 in the second quarter after trailing 11-7 after the first.
Memorial opened the second on a 9-3 run highlighted by a basket and a free throw by Antonirria Beasley. She finished the night with seven points.
The Lady Titans then finished the quarter on a 10-0 run to lead 28-20 over West Brook (16-13, 7-5).
Memorial will now face Pearland Dawson in the first round of the playoffs at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Lee College in Baytown.
“We haven’t played in a week,” Memorial coach Kevin Henry said. “I knew we had to get us a game in before the playoffs, and this was perfect instead of setting up a little scrimmage with someone. This was playoff atmosphere. I knew they would come out hard because we were both competing for that third spot.”
West Brook opened the game on a 9-2 run capped by a free throw from Serenity Williams. Channel Hamilton ended the run for Memorial with a bucket and Victoria Brown soon followed with a three-pointer to pull the Lady Titans to within 9-7. Hamilton scored 18 points for the Lady Titans and Brown had eight points.
Autumn Jones finished with 10 points and Teliah Joyce added nine.
The Lady Titans’ defense did a great job protecting the three-point line. The Lady Bruins did not sink any of their 11 attempts from behind the arc.
“We started fast and was settling for jumpers,” Henry said. “Once we started penetrating we were able to get some shots. We got focused and started to communicate in the second and third quarters.”
Robyn Onvorah led the Lady Bruins with 15 points and grabbed 13 boards. Williams added 13 points for West Brook and teammate Destiny Broussard finished with 10 points.
Now Henry and the Titans can look forward to a postseason run.
“I feel real good,” Henry said about the playoffs. “We have a nice senior group. We have some experience. If we go in and keep our composure, we will be fine. We just have to go in and execute.”