Basketball: The Woodlands girls 14-5A lone unbeaten

THE WOODLANDS, Texas – And then there was one.

The Woodlands High School girls’ basketball team ran away late for a 59-44 victory over Lufkin at home Friday in a battle of the only District 14-5A unbeatens.

Lady Highlanders center Kelsey Lang hit 15-of-26 shots from the floor and finished with a game-high 30 points to go along with 12 rebounds while teammate Nicole Iademarco added 15 points and 14 rebounds from her point guard position to lead the charge.

Lang and Iademarco teamed up time after time to put The Woodlands in position for easy baskets.

“We’re strong inside and it’s our fault if we don’t do the job of getting it in there,” said Lady Highlanders coach Dana Bruton, who added that the duo is hard to defend. “They’re used to looking for each other and reading off of one another.”

Kori Dyer contributed with seven points while Emily Gauthier finished with three points and six rebounds. Kristen Mahoney and Alexis Heathcock scored two points each and Payton Walker grabbed four rebounds.

The Woodlands (21-6, 5-0) jumped out to a 21-13 lead after one quarter but a talented Lady Panthers team didn’t allow the No. 21 state-ranked Lady Highlanders to put their foot on the pedal. The lead was trimmed to 27-21 by halftime and just 40-33 after three quarters.

“They’re athletic,” Bruton said of Lufkin. “Kassie (Jones), she is a legitimate Division I guard. You have to defend her multiple ways and hope that she ends up missing. She ended up with 28 (points – 8-for-28). She’s a talented kid on a very talented team.

“Lufkin’s talented and they are young. So they’re going to do nothing but get better.”

But Iademarco continued to feed Lang and the Lady Highlanders ran off a 19-11 steak over the final eight minutes to become the last undefeated team in District 14-5A.

Bruton said he wouldn’t rest on her laurels, however.

“We’re going to finish (the first round) against Bryan on the road Friday and the second round is going to be twice as tough because everybody’s got you on film now. I think College Park is going to be a battle here; Lufkin is going to be a battle in their gym; Conroe challenged us…”

 Also in District 14-5A play Friday, College Park (14-8, 3-1) turned away Conroe 51-31. Alexia Sanders pumped in 23 points for the homestanding Lady Cavaliers, who visit A&M Consolidated on Tuesday.

In a non-district game, Oak Ridge (5-12, 1-3) fell 51-44 at home to Bendigo, Australia. Ashlyn Garza and Kelsey Scibek scored 11 points each for the Lady War Eagles.