Despite losing a 10-point halftime lead and trailing in the fourth quarter, the Denton Ryan girls basketball team rallied past Colleyville Heritage to secure the District 7-5A championship.
A’Rosha Reed’s layup with five minutes left in the final period gave Ryan the lead for good and Kinley Lewis added two more baskets as the Raiders beat the Panthers 40-35 at home on Tuesday.
Ryan (28-7, 13-1 in 7-5A) wraps up the regular season with the program’s first district title since 2016 when the Raiders went to the regional semifinals. They will open as a 1-seed and play Burleson in the bi-district round next week.
Heritage (21-10, 11-3) finishes in third place. The Panthers went to the regional tournament last season.
The Raiders, No. 9 in the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches Class 5A state rankings, led 15-8 after the opening quarter.
Heritage cut it to 15-11 with three minutes left in the half before Ryan scored the final six to go into the intermission with a 21-11 lead. Dez King was able to hit a corner three that gave Ryan a 19-11 edge.
Ryan continued to lead by double digits following a layup by Lauryn Stephens midway through the third, but Heritage closed out the quarter strong with a 16-5 run.
Journee Hampton got a loose ball and layup to pull the Panthers within six and Suli Davis later finished a steal and transition to make it a two-point game. Hampton added two more baskets and Heritage led 31-30 entering the fourth quarter.
A layup by Davis early in the fourth gave Heritage a two-point lead. Both offenses stalled until Reed’s score at the five-minute mark put Ryan in front again.
