SAN ANTONIO — Fredericksburg hung around long enough to make powerhouse Argyle sweat a little at the UIL girls basketball state tournament Friday at the Alamodome.
But in the end, the Lady Eagles' championship pedigree and experience proved too much for the Battlin' Billies in the Class 5A state semifinals.
Senior guard Rhyle McKinney scored 20 points and the Argle defense tightened up in the second half, paving the way for a 49-38 victory that sent the Lady Eagles to the state finals for the seventh straight year.
Argyle (33-6) will play Fairfield (33-4) for the state championship Saturday at 7 p.m. Argyle has won five straight titles after losing in the 2014 3A (now 4A) title game.
"I thought we came out and gave them a dogfight" Billies coach Carrie Grona said. "They weren't expecting some of the offensive and defensive intensity that we played with. I think we kind of shocked them."
Fredericksburg, which played in the state tournament for the first time since 1995, finished 33-9. The Billies had only one senior on their roster, starting forward Caitie Huff.
Freshman guard Ella Hartmann led the Billies' scoring with 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting, including 3 of 6 from three-point range. Hartmann also had eight rebounds.
Argyle led only 24-21 at the half, but outscored the Fredericksburg 16-9 in the third quarter to take a 40-30 lead into the final period.
"They're very good defensively but, for the most part, I thought our kids hung in there well," Grona said. "It wasn't their defense. It was sometimes our lack of experience. I take that loss to five possessions.
"We had three possessions in the third quarter and two possessions in the fourth quarter where we weren't totally locked in offensively, and we made some mistakes. Kudos to them because we knew coming in it was going to be a defensive battle."
Brooklyn Carl nailed a three-pointer with two seconds left in the second quarter to give Argyle a 24-21 lead at the half. The Lady Eagles went 2 of 11 from beyond the arc in the first two quarters, with Carl getting both long-distance shots.
McKinney led Argyle's first-half scoring with 10 points on 3-of-8 shooting. Fredericksburg did not have a player in double figures after two quarters.
Neither team shot well in the first half. The Lady Eagles made 9 of 31 attempts for 29 percent and the Billies shot 32 percent overall (8-25) and 42.9 percent (3-7) from three-point range.