BURYING BROWNWOOD: Martin leads Honeybees to eighth straight area win

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Stephenville is on to the regional quarterfinals for the eighth straight year after thumping Brownwood in the area round Friday, 51-31, at Hamilton High School. || TheFlashToday.com photo by BRAD KEITH

By BRAD KEITH
TheFlashToday.com

HAMILTON (February 17, 2017) — Stephenville head coach Alan Thorpe said he needed his shooters to deliver.

Junior guard Hailey Martin must have got the message loud and clear.

Martin buried back-to-back left corner 3-pointers off nifty swing passes by Payton Wall to open up a 16 lead that moments later swelled to 20 midway through the fourth quarter, and No. 10 Stephenville (26-6) cruised past No. 15 Brownwood (24-9) for a 51-31 win in a Region I-4A girls area playoff at Hamilton High School Friday evening.

Martin, who also hit back-to-back 3-pointers early in the third to open up a double-digit lead, paced the Honeybees with 17 points.

It’s the eighth straight season the Honeybees have advanced to the regional quarterfinals.

“It feels great, the kids are on a nice roll,” said Thorpe. “Winning is contagious after a while, and these kids have had a lot of success.”

This time they get Glen Rose, their neighbor and district rival, who they defeated twice in 8-4A play.

Glen Rose beat Burkburnett, 63-54, in a Thursday evening area-round tilt. The regional quarterfinal tips off at  6 p.m. Tuesday at Tolar High School.

“They’re better now than when we faced them (in district),” said Thorpe. “They played really well the last two playoff games.”

Friday marked the third straight year the Honeybees and Brownwood have met in the playoffs. Stephenville won an area playoff in 2015 and Brownwood won a regional quarterfinal last season. The first two were close. This one, thanks to a 13-1 Stephenville run after Brownwood pulled within eight on two free throws early in the fourth, was not.


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The Bees led 33-25 following those foul shots -rare make from the line for Brownwood – but the Bees pushed the margin right back to 10 on a jumper by Jayci Morton, then came the Hailey 3-pointers for a 41-25 advantage.

“I didn’t really think they ended the game, because there was still (about five minutes) left, so I knew we had to keep playing hard, and we did,” said Martin. “They didn’t really close out on the 3’s very well and we just took what the defense gave us and we thank God for the win.

“It’s great, it seems like in Stephenville we always win,” added Martin of the eight straight area titles, all coming under Thorpe. “I’m proud to be a Honeybee.”

Stephenville scored nine straight following a Brownwood 3 to begin the game, and the Bees played from in front the rest of the way.

It was 14-7 after the first quarter, and as soon as Brownwood cut into 16-13, Stephenville scored five straight. The Lady Lions hit a free throw to trim it to 21-14 at half.

Brownwood, known for its 3-point shooting, hit just three from outside the arc.

“They shoot the 3 extremely well, and I thought our kids did a great job of defending that all night long,” said Thorpe.

Conversely, he knew his club finding ways to shoot over the extended 2-3 zone defense of the Lady Lions would be crucial, and as Martin proved, it was.

“The way they extend it and the way we were rotating, I thought it was opening up things for us,” said Thorpe. “That’s what we wanted to happen was to move the ball well and set up the corner 3.”


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Sage Cupps scored to 14 to lead Brownwood, but even on her Thorpe liked the way his team played defensively.

“She is a big threat, and that’s one thing – we were going to help a little bit on her, but not fully help on her, just stay a little closer,” Thorpe said. “She’s got a lot of range.”

Morton netted 10 points for Stephenville, which also had Wall scoring six, Jordan Carter four, Liz Pack three, Madison Gilder three, Hannah Bernays two, Madison Carter two and Tesslie Baker two.

The Honeybees, runners up in District 8-4A, reached the area round with a 64-25 bi-district romp of Springtown. District 5-4A champ Brownwood, which had a nine-game win streak snapped in the season-ending loss, got here by beating Iowa Park, 36-19.

Moments following Stephenville’s win Martin was already looking forward to seeing Glen Rose a third time.

“I think it’s going to be a good game. We know what they do and they know what we do,” the junior guard said. “I hope they’re ready to play because I know we are.”

 

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