Lady Eagles Soar as State Champions

Fans and players jumped out of their seats as the final free throw bounces back from the rim and the buzzer sounds. The Lady Eagles did it. They made history.

The Lady Eagles won the 4A Girls Basketball State Championship Title on March 7 for the first time after winning the state tournament games at the San Antonio Alamodome.

“The feeling is unexplainable,” senior Belle Johnson said. “You feel like you’re on top of the world, and whenever you have your team and community behind you, it’s 10 times better.”

The last time the Lady Eagles made it to the state tournament was in 2011, but they did not win the championship. This year, the Lady Eagles were able to make history, beating Argyle with a 40-39 score. 

“I took it as a challenge because we know how good they were and what they could do,” Johnson said. “We decided to take on the challenge; that’s all we could do.” 

The girls started off on Friday against Dallas Lincoln at 1:30 p.m. They beat Lincoln 76-51 and moved on to compete for the championship.

“It was a dream come true,” senior Jada Clark said. “I don’t think I’ve ever wanted something more than this.” 

The Lady Eagles went head to head against the Argyle Lady Eagles, who would be playing for their sixth consecutive state championship title, on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. 

“I think our team finally fully understood what we were playing for and we were able to just relax and adjust,” senior Braden Bossier said. “We all had the mindset that losing was not an option and to do anything that would help us achieve that goal.”

By the end of the first half, the Lady Eagles were down by 14; however, the Lady Eagles managed to keep up with Argyle and tied the game at 34 sending the teams to play overtime. Freshman McKinna Brackens was named the games MVP.

“At first I kind of went numb after tying the game,” Brackens said. “Then, I was like it’s not over yet. We could still win this game.”
The Lady Eagles took the first and only lead 40-37 with less than ten seconds left until a foul was made on Clark. Argyle attempted three free throws, but only made two of them. They did not tie the game, giving the Lady Eagles the first ever state title. 

“I was super excited and I knew then that we had that game after I made the free throw,” Clark said. “I was confident that it would be hard for Argyle to catch up in such little time, but then I got a foul and I honestly thought she was going to make all her free throws. Words can’t describe how I felt after I heard the buzzer.”