Rematch set with Huntsville vs. top-ranked Ozen

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Huntsville guard Aliyah Houston, left, shuffles her feet and stays in front of a Dayton player during Friday’s area-round playoff game in Humble. The Lady Hornets made a strong fourth-quarter push and beat the Lady Broncos 48-46 to set up a meeting with top-ranked Beaumont Ozen on Tuesday in Houston.
Urged by Huntsville High School’s varsity cheerleaders, the crowd stands up and salutes the Lady Hornets during Friday’s playoff game against Dayton. The Huntsville girls rallied late and beat the Lady Broncos 48-46. Coach Jay Oliphant says the Lady Hornets will have to play much better if they hope to stay close to Beaumont Ozen, the No. 1 Class 4A team in the state and Huntsville’s opponent in the Region III quarterfinals on Tuesday. Tipoff at the Campbell Center in Houston is set for 6:30 p.m.

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February 18, 2012

Lady Hornets looking to avenge last year’s playoff loss

By Gene Schallenberg Assistant Sports Editor The Huntsville Item Sat Feb 18, 2012, 11:22 PM CST

HUNTSVILLE — In a pair of hard-fought games in the first two rounds of the playoffs last week, the Lady Hornets managed to survive tough tests from Houston Stratford and Dayton and advance to the second week of the postseason.

Keeping their eyes on the short-term goals of getting through each game, the Huntsville girls can now focus their attention squarely on their Class 4A Region III quarterfinal against top-ranked Beaumont Ozen. That playoff game will take place in Houston at the Campbell Center on Tuesday night at 6:30 as the middle contest of a tripleheader.

“I’ve got some film on (Ozen), so we’ll get some eyes on them and come up with a plan,” Huntsville girls basketball coach Jay Oliphant said Saturday afternoon.

The Lady Hornets have been waiting for their chance at Ozen after last year’s regional final. Huntsville led 57-54 with 39 seconds to play, but the Lady Panthers rallied and scored the final four points of the game to win the Region III championship and advance to the state tournament.

So far this season, no team has been able to beat the Ozen girls, who bring a 32-0 record to the Campbell Center this week. In the area round of the playoffs, Summer Creek, the third-place finisher out of District 18-4A, came close to hanging a loss on the Lady Panthers.

A few nights after Ozen crushed Crosby 83-21 in the bi-district round, the Lady Bulldogs never allowed the Lady Panthers to pull away in the first three quarters.

In fact, Summer Creek, which Huntsville defeated 68-37 and 62-29 in district play, had a four-point advantage midway through the third, but Ozen took a 31-28 lead thanks to post Nekia Jones’ three-point play.

Ozen finished off the period on a run to take an eight-point lead into the fourth quarter. That allowed the Lady Panthers to hold off Summer Creek for a 55-43 win.

“Well, I knew that Summer Creek had a handful of good players. Surprisingly, they had a chance to beat Ozen,” Oliphant said.

In a pair of playoff victories, the Lady Hornets have had their moments of not playing to their potential.

Plagued by turnovers and missed opportunities, the Lady Hornets mustered just 28 points and managed only two points in the second quarter in last Friday’s area-round game against Dayton, but came alive in the fourth quarter to squeak past the Lady Broncos 48-46.

Earlier in the week in its bi-district game, Huntsville had its share of difficulties against Stratford in the first half, but pulled away after the break.

“We just need to do what we do well and finish around the basket, get rebounds and make free throws,” Oliphant said.

“The positive thing I can say about this past week is that we have yet to play well in the playoffs. We to start that this week.”

Change of venue for Hornets’

playoff game against Brenham

Originally, the plans were set for Huntsville to square off against Brenham in their bi-district playoff game on Monday night in Navasota.

The day and tipoff time remains the same, but the location is different.

Now, the Hornets and Cubs will tangle Monday at 7 p.m. at Rudder High School in Bryan.

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Rematch set with Huntsville vs. top-ranked Ozen

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