X – @gmsportsmedia1
From the 2018-19 season through 2021, the Paradise girls basketball team couldn’t win 10 games for three consecutive years.
The Panthers had a big rebound in 2021-22 after winning 19 games. They followed it up with 25 and 28 victories, and back-to-back district championships.
Entering 2024-25, Paradise was looking for even more success and the Panthers did that – with Friday’s state championship appearance in San Antonio – the first time in the Final Four in program history.
However, Paradise ran into a tough Kountze team – ranked #5 in the TABC Class 3A rankings. The Panthers struggled from the field – shooting 24.1% as they lost 69-40 during the Class 3A Division 2 title match at the Alamodome.
Paradise ends 27-11.
The Panthers led 7-6 with 3:23 left in the first quarter after a 3-pointer by Brittan Richey, but they went cold the rest of the period as Kountze scored the final 13 points and led 19-7 entering the second.
Kountze’s lead grew to 23 with 3:25 left in the first half on a Jada Skipper layup. Paradise was outscored 24-12 and trailed 43-19 at the intermission.
Gazey Yates led the Panthers with 13 points and added seven rebounds, one assist, three steals and one block. Kimber Euler added nine points off the bench plus a team-best 10 boards (six offensive) in 17 minutes. Richey and Channing Beauvais chipped in six and five points, respectively.
Allie McCormick and Jayci Barnes rounded out the scoring for Paradise with four and three points.
Beauvais added nine boards and four blocks.
The Panthers defeated Bells 49-31 in the regional final and then Idalou 42-40 during the state semifinals on Tuesday night. They also knocked off Cedar Hill Trinity Leadership, Mount Vernon and Tatum in the playoffs.
Barnes and Paradise should be a tough contender next season with only three seniors set to graduate later this spring – all starters (Yates, Beauvais, Madi Gentry).
