Photo: Matt Smith
BY BRIAN GOSSET
X – @Gosset41
GARLAND – Monday marked the 30 year anniversary of Johnson City’s only state appearance, a semifinal loss to Pattonville Prairiland. Three decades later, the Eagles got to the state championship match and won.
Behind a triple double from state champ MVP Casey Loewer, Johnson City rallied from a 2-1 deficit to beat Wink 25-17, 17-25, 19-25, 25-22, 15-9 in the Class 2A Division 1 title game on Thursday night at the Culwell Center.
The Eagles wrap up the season 38-8 while Wink falls to 41-8 and is denied a title once again. The Wildcats made state for the 15th time in program history, but only have two titles – the last coming in 1974.
Loewer finished with 16 kills, 14 assists and 16 digs.
Aizlyn Gorum and Kinlee Fiero chipped in 15 and 11 kills, respectively. Ava Craig posted 34 assists and 12 digs, and Kathryn Johnson added a team-high 29 digs. The Eagles finished with 101 digs – 15 shy of the 2A state tournament record set by Weimer in 2016.
With Wink looking to close out the match in the fourth set, the Wildcats got an ace to put them ahead 19-15 forcing a Johnson City timeout. The Eagles got lucky with a Wink service error on the ensuing rally followed by back to back kills from Loewer.
After the Wildcats went up 20-18, Johnson City tied it on another Loewer kill followed by a hitting error. Wink took a 21-20 lead before an error by the Wildcats and an ace from Heidi Wilson put the Eagles on top 22-21. Wink tied it at 22 and then Johnson City scored the final three points on a kill from Fiero and back to back errors on Wink.
