The girls played Wakeland High School on Tuesday, Nov. 13. The crowd was full of very supportive fans. It was a fight until the very last second.
The starting players for the game were sophomore Kara Mitchell and seniors Haley Wray, Grace Mitchell, Wilma Afunugo and Lucy Gentry. The players dominated the first quarter. Wray received possession after the starting jump ball and drove the ball down to attempt a shot. Wray was pushed by a Wakeland defenseman and was allowed two shots. Afunugo quickly came down to dunk the ball. Wakeland’s defense was brutal against Plano, but that wouldn’t stop Grace from scoring. She was extremely aggressive throughout the entire game. With three minutes left in the first quarter, senior Binna Kim, senior Sarah Edwards and junior Kylee Guthrie entered the game. Within seconds, Kim scored her first basket of the game. A Wakeland player was given 2 shots after fouled on by Kim. Grace received the rebound and scored for Plano. The girls’ energy was off the charts at the start of the game. The ending score of the first quarter was 12 to 10 with Plano in the lead.
The second quarter started out strong with a score by Grace. The ball was passed back and forth by players before being passed back to Grace who came back and scored again. Junior Haley Shearer was then put into the game. The team had several great plays, leaving Wakeland unfocused and out of energy. The Wakeland coaches used up most of their timeouts during this period. The number of fouls on Plano kept increasing as the game went on. The referees were calling fouls left and right. Most of the point increases came from free throws, and junior Courtney Loveland shot the first 3-pointer of the game. Plano defense held their lead as the clock ran out, leaving the score 23 to 19. During the first half, Grace scored 11 points, the most points scored by one player.
The third quarter started with Wakeland in possession of the ball. Grace, still on fire, stole the ball and scored for Plano. After their opponents attempted to shoot again, Afunugo caught the rebound and put 2 more points on the scoreboard. The girls got more and more aggressive, racking up the fouls. Wakeland shot a free throw after Wray pushed a player to the ground. Plano had six fouls within the first minutes of the quarter. Wakeland offense gained momentum and began to catch up to Plano. The score for Plano was 36, leaving Wakeland behind by only 2 points.
The final quarter was the most exciting part of the game. The score got closer and closer until Wakeland took the lead. Plano’s defensive plays were up-and-down, but they quickly fell behind. The girls began to look defeated until junior Kylee Guthrie shot a 3-pointer, putting Plano back into the running for the win. Kara attempted to shoot, but was shoved out of bounds by a Wakeland player. The free throw put Plano into the lead with 56 points. The clock eventually ran out and the Plano crowd rose to its feet, cheering in support of the girls. The final score was 56 to 55.
Check back here every week for Plano sports updates.
