UIL Girls Basketball State Tournament
Thursday-Saturday, Alamodome
(Schedule for San Antonio-area teams)
Class 6A semifinals: Judson (36-5) vs. Allen (33-6), Friday, 7 p.m.
Class 5A semifinals: Kerrville Tivy (37-1) vs. Frisco Liberty (31-10), Thursday, 7 p.m.
Class 3A semifinals: Poth (29-5) vs. Woodville (38-1), Thursday, 3 p.m.
Judson girls basketball coach Triva Corrales didn’t quite know what to make of the relative calm in the Rockets’ locker room after Saturday’s 71-44 victory over Clark in the Region IV-6A final.
The Rockets, who play Allen in the Class 6A state semifinals Friday night, had just earned their third consecutive berth in this week’s UIL state tournament at the Alamodome. But there was no loud celebration in their locker room at the Northside ISD Sports Gym afterward.
“You’d be very shocked with the mood in the locker room,” Corrales said Sunday. “It was exciting on the court, but when they got in the locker room, I mean, you couldn’t even tell that they’d just won a regional championship. They just were getting their stuff on and they were getting ready to leave.
“We went through our stats and some of our postgame stuff, and they were just ready to go. I didn’t even have to say anything. They just were all business. They were just sitting there. They were focused, locked in. It was the oddest thing. That was the weirdest locker room I think I’ve ever been in after a championship. They were just very quiet and focused.”
Corrales said on Friday that her players have been driven by the disappointment of last year’s 62-58 loss to Plano in the Class 6A state final.
“Absolutely,” Corrales said. “They are definitely considering it unfinished business. Every time we go to a game or a tournament like this, it’s a business trip. We’re not here to have fun, so to speak, for the most part. We’re here to work and we have six working days left.”
Judson (36-5) plays Allen (33-6) in the first 6A semifinal Friday at 7 p.m. Humble Summer Creek (33-6) and DeSoto (32-6) meet in the other 6A semifinal at 8:30. The championship game is set for Saturday at 8:30 p.m.
Two other San Antonio-area teams – 5A Kerrville Tivy and 3A Poth – will also play in the state tournament. Tivy advanced for the second year in a row. The Antlers (37-1) go against Frisco Liberty (31-10) in the 5A semifinals Thursday at 7 p.m. Poth (29-5) plays Woodville (38-1) in the 3A semifinals Thursday at 3 p.m.
Fort Bend Hightower (38-2) and Amarillo (35-4) play in the other 5A semifinal Thursday at 8:30 p.m. The 5A championship game is at 3 p.m. Saturday.
Mount Pleasant Chapel Hill (35-0) meet Wall (32-1) in the other 3A semifinal, with the winner advancing to the title game Saturday at 10 a.m.
While Corrales was in the early stages of putting together a game plan for Allen on Sunday afternoon, she had already heard enough about the Eagles to know what the Rockets will be up against.
“They’re really, really good,” Corrales said. “They’re tall, they’re athletic. They have shooters.”
Any discussion about Allen starts and ends with senior point guard Nyah Green, who signed with Louisville in November. Green, who committed to the Cardinals when she was in the eighth grade, had been recruited since she was a sixth-grader.
“She’s pretty phenomenal,” Corrales said of Green. “They (Eagles) start a 6-3, 6-foot, 5-9, 5-10 and 5-4. They’re the real deal. We’re going to have our hands full, but we’ll do our best to try to disrupt what they’re trying to do, and just go from there."
“I don’t have a good game plan yet. Obviously, it’s early. But we’ll get there as the week progresses.”