It was a tough night for Brennan as they faced off against South Grand Prairie in a high-stakes 6A State Semifinal basketball game, with Bella Flemings, their star scorer, contained to a mere seven points, which is a far cry from her usual high-impact performances, her lackluster 3-for-13 shooting contributing to the Bears' demise as they fell 53-42 yesterday evening at the Alamodome, as KENS 5 reported.
Brennan, boasting a 32-4 season record which marked the school's third state tourney appearance since 2013, couldn't keep pace with the Warriors during a pivotal second quarter massacre, where they were outscored 17-5 and this 11-0 run left them in a 27-13 halftime abyss which was simply too steep a hill to climb despite their efforts to gain ground on South Grand Prairie; the latter's team will now advance to confront Duncanville in the state finals today night, as Express-News detailed.
Not for lack of trying, a troika of Brennan players—Taylor Ross, Mahogany Pierce, and Tyra Sotelo—each bucketed 11 points to compensate for their leading scorer's tight-lipped baskets, yet the night belonged to South Grand Prairie's Taylor Barnes, who stacked up an impressive 24 points in the victory. The bout opened with a dogfight first quarter, displaying both teams' vigor in the quick exchange of leads, ultimately settling at a two-point advantage for the Warriors going into the second frame that pushed Brennan too far back to recover.
Reflecting on the match, Brennan's coach Jackie Contreras indicated the team's initial self-assurance dwindled as the game progressed, “We came out here very confident, and I think early on our game plan kind of fell through a little bit and we started to lose our confidence,” with Contreras admitting to an unsettling bout of nerves from her squad, which certainly didn't help against the poised and experienced South Grand Prairie side; this mix of stumbling blocks setting the stage for what was to be a season-ending upset for Brennan, according to what Contreras told the Express-News.
Brennan's loss will be etched as a low-scoring outlier in their otherwise standout season, with the team's 42 points reflecting their fourth-lowest tally for the year. Nevertheless, South Grand Prairie's win propels them into a much-anticipated title clash with Duncanville, a team returning after a one-year postseason ban and brimming with ambition for its 12th state championship.
