BY BRIAN GOSSET
X – @Gosset41
X – @GMSportsMedia1
MANSFIELD – Nearly 50 years ago, the Red Hawks girls basketball team made the UIL state tournament – back when the school was Class 2A. They would fall to state champ Spearman in the semifinal round.
Almost half a century later, the program was playing in one of its biggest games all-time – facing the Highland Park Scots in the Region 2 championship of the Class 5A Division 1 bracket.
The season looked to be on the brink of completion when the Hawks trailed 26-17 in the third quarter. Kenedi Griffin hit a layup to give Red Oak a 32-30 lead with 2:47 left in the fourth and the Hawks never trailed again – winning 41-38 at Mansfield Lake Ridge HS.
Red Oak, which won District 15-5A, improves to 24-11.
Highland Parks ends 24-13. The Scots were second in District 12-5A. They were looking to clinch a state semifinal berth for the first time.
HP had trouble early in the first quarter, getting anything on offense against a tough Red Oak defense. After the Hawks made the first two baskets of the night, the Scots scored six straight. Ellington Heis made HP’s first field goal.
Red Oak forced a turnover and Journee Hodges nailed a 3-pointer in transition as the Hawks took a 10-6 lead. After a 10-10 tie to end the quarter, Heis made a three and the Scots were up 15-12 in the second period.
Cate Young made a nice pass and Kate Danner hit a mid-range jumper to give HP a 17-14 edge. Young is a junior forward and the daughter of Texas Rangers President and General Manager Chris Young, who was in the stands.
After Young made a layup, Red Oak pulled within 20-17 after Kierstyn Totten was fouled and converted a three-point play with under a minute left in the first half.
The Scots led 21-17 at the break before going up 26-17 in the third quarter. Ariana Warren hit Totten for two in the paint to start Red Oak’s run that would stretch to 17-4. Totten got back into the paint and split two defenders before HP went up 28-25 after three quarters.
Hodges hit Warren for the layup and Red Oak got within 28-27 with 5:34 left in the fourth quarter. Heis answered with a tough layup and the Scots went back up three at the 5-minute mark.
Nearly two minutes later and Victoria Harden hit the game-tying three for Red Oak and it was 30-30 with 3:17 to play. Griffin hit a layup and was fouled 30 seconds later. She missed the free throw, but the Hawks led 32-30.
Harden added two more after HP committed a turnover off a travel call and then missed two layups in the paint. Red Oak led by four with 1:48 left in the frame.
After the Scots made a basket, Red Oak turned the ball over and Danner was fouled before making 1 of 2 at the charity stripe and the lead was 34-33 with 1:29 to go.
Anjelle Kerr got behind the defense and made an easy Red Oak layup and then Hodges picked off a pass, and made a pair of three throws to give the Hawks a 38-33 advantage with 56 seconds left.
Danner was fouled again, but on a field goal attempt and converted the three-point play to cut the deficit to 39-38 with 25 ticks remaining. HP got a chance when it forced another Red Oak turnover, but the Scots missed the go-ahead layup from about 5 feet out and the Hawks got the rebound and drew the foul.
Red Oak made both free throws and HP missed the final 3-point attempt at the buzzer to send the Hawks to the next round. They will await Friday’s winner between Amarillo Tascosa and Denton Ryan in the 5A Division 1 Final Four.
The Hawks have become one of the top area teams since the 2018-19 season. After going 0-14 in district in 2017-18, Red Oak hasn’t only made the playoffs during the past seven seasons, but the program has won a district championship each year. Additionally, the Hawks went four rounds deep in four straight year (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022). They went to Round 3 in 2023 and Round 2 in 2024.
