The Whitesboro Lady Bearcat basketball team proved they belong in the playoffs Monday night with a 53-29 victory over Trinity Leadership in the Class 3A Region II bi-district round at Carrollton Ranchview.
The Lady Cats jumped out to a 7-0 lead shortly after tip-off and never looked back.
Trinity got on the board midway through the first quarter but the Lady Cats led 13-5 at the end of one.
Isabel Gabbert kicked off the second quarter with an immediate score on an inbound jumper and the momentum built.
Whitesboro had a commanding 26-12 lead at halftime.
Trinity Leadership could never catch up.
Whitesboro extended their lead to 38-19 at the end of the third and kept scoring in the fourth.
The Lady Cat lead was doubled up at 50-25 with 2:09 left on the clock.
Whitesboro head coach Coach Travis Marsh called a time-out sent in the subs. The writing was on the wall.
Trinity answered with a last chance three pointer, but it was too-little-too-late.
Whitesboro's man defense was too much for Trinity.
“I wanted to do something different than what they were good at,” Bearcat head coach Travis Marsh said when asked about his mid-season defensive scheme change. “And, yeah, I listened to my assistant coaches, and I tried to change to the girls' strengths… so we switched from being a zone team to a man team. They worked so hard. I'm proud of them because they go out there and they play with fantastic effort every time we get on the court.”
Marsh credits the commitment to man defense for Whitesboro’s endurance late in the game.
“If that's what you're going to do, you have to be committed to it. And the commitment to that means we're going to run a lot in practice. We're going to run a lot in the game… and they bought in. I wouldn't trade how hard they play for anything,” Marsh said.
Whitesboro senior Olivia Hildebrand tacked on three more points of her own before time expired and the score was set at 53-29 as the Lady Cats walked out the clock.
Hildebrand was on fire all night with 18 points, five assists, five steals and three rebounds.
Claire Ortiz had 10 points and four steals.
Bailee Pinkston and Allison Eldredge each had six points.
Melanie Baldwin chipped in five points and eight rebounds.
The win took Whitesboro to 17-16 on the year.
They will face Emory Rains in the area round Friday night.
The Lady Wildcats are coming off a 56-36 win over Howe Monday night.
They are 32-2 on the year and ranked among the top five teams in the state.
“They're really good,” Marsh said. “We've played them previously, and they did beat us in the Leonard Tournament. But I think our girls are up to the challenge, and it's something that we embrace instead of run from.”
Tip-off in the Area Round is set for 6:30 p.m . Friday at McKinney Boyd High School, 600 North Lake Forest Dr, McKinney.
Tickets are available online.