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Defensive battle: Lone Star takes down Celina in low-scoring affair
BY Chris O’Dell, codell@starlocalnews.com
CELINA – Although the district season was just one-game old heading into Tuesday night’s showdown between Frisco Lone Star and Celina, the matchup figured to play a key role in determining playoff seeding and perhaps the District 10-3A championship.
Consider Lone Star (21-5) the front runners after the Lady Rangers earned a 42-37 road victory to improve to 2-0 in district action this season.
“It’s still way too early to get comfortable in our district,” said Katie Stinton, Lone Star head coach. “It doesn’t get any easier from here.”
Despite the constant defensive pressure, both teams began the game with a hot start on the offensive end. Celina junior guard Sarah Cantu scored nine of her team-high 12 points in the frame while Lone Star junior Deja Snell added eight of her own in the quarter.
The offensive outburst ended with the Lady Rangers taking a 20-17 advantage into the second quarter before both offenses stalled for the remainder of the game.
“We knew the whole time it would be a defensive battle,” said Jordan Davis, Celina head coach. “[Lone Star] is a very good and athletic team.”
Lone Star quickly built its largest lead of the opening half after junior point guard Zoie Miller buried a 3-pointer with 6:40 remaining in the second quarter. The shot gave Lone Star a 23-17 lead before Celina closed the half on a 6-3 run that featured a last-second layup from junior guard Lauren Edwards.
With the two teams matching each other point-for-point in the second quarter, it was much of the same in the third frame.
Celina sophomore forward Kynese Davis helped lead a quick 6-3 run that evened the score at 29-29 with 3:45 left in the third. However, Lone Star followed Davis’ short run with back-to-back layups from Snell and senior Bria Wagner to regain the three-point advantage before the start of the fourth quarter.
Lone Star junior forward Whitney Apari gave her team its largest lead of the night at the 3:10 mark of the fourth quarter after a layup made it 38-31.
The Lady Bobcats quickly got back into the game and trimmed the deficit to just two points after an and-one layup from sophomore forward KJ Stastny with 1:11 remaining in regulation.
However, missed opportunities late in the game would prove to be Celina’s undoing. Trailing by just one possession, the Lady Bobcats botched several layups and missed three free throws in the final minute.
“We had some opportunities, some open doors to do something,” Davis said. “We’re just not tough. We’re not tough at all and you can’t win if you play like that.”
Wagner iced the game with clutch free throws in the final seconds to put the game out of reach.
“I knew it would be a free-throw thing down the stretch,” Stinton said.
Wagner was limited to just seven points in the contest while Miller, Apari and Snell reached double figures for the Lady Rangers.
Cantu’s 12 points led Celina, while Davis added 11 of her own and Stastny poured in nine more.
“This definitely puts [Lone Star] in the lead for district,” Davis said. “They won here and so now we have to go up there and try to return the favor.”
Celina fell to 20-4 on the season with the loss and now boast a 1-1 mark against 10-3A counterparts. The team will be back in action Friday with a 6:30 p.m. contest at Aubrey.
The Lady Rangers will look to remain unbeaten in district play with a home game against Argyle at the same time.
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