Taz Knox off The Woodlands

There are nine area 5A teams ranked in TABC’s Top 25, however District 14 is the only one with two teams, Atascocita #15 and The Woodlands #18. At the start of the season, I felt like “The Taz” had a very good chance to go all the way and I also stated that The Woodlands were not going to be a pushover in district and as usual, I was correct. In their first meeting, The Woodlands won at home 54-47, however I told you to put an asterisk by that game because “All Everything” Curtyce Knox was injured in the first quarter and never returned in the game. Atascocita won this time around 71-58, even though Knox received two quick fouls in the first quarter as the Eagles struggled on the offensive side and were behind  11-7 at the end of the opening quarter. The lone bright spot up to that point for the Eagles was Rachel Arthur who scored 5 of the 7 points. The Highlanders on the other hand got scoring from all five of their starters, Paige Bradley, Ashlyn Hargraves, Anna Strickland, Sarah Seefeldt and Kelsey Lang

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Rachel Mitchell also got into foul trouble as the Eagles went about five minutes without scoring and a Bradley three gave the Highlanders a 21-14 lead, however Knox went to work as she scored 10 points in the second quarter, including a three at the buzzer, and “The Taz” was up 28-24 at the half. In the third quarter, Mitchell came back with a vengeance blocking shots and rebounding. First a basket from Makela Bell, then Lauren Price and Arthur being recipients of some nifty passes set up by Chrishauna Parker for easy buckets, both scored 6 points in the third, Atascocita was looking to blow this game wide open. However with less than a second left, Bradley knocked down two free throws and Kara Evans made an unbelievable and one to end the quarter with The Woodlands down 48-37. The final quarter opened with an and one by Arthur, a three from Knox, then a steal and a bucket from Knox. Throw in a Mitchell drop step and the lead was 21.

Neither scored for two minutes until Knox hit another three to make it 61-37 however it was still a great ball game. Strickland was high scorer for The Woodlands with 17, followed by Hargraves with 10 and Paige Bradley who scored 7 points and dished out 7 assists.. Knox led all scorers with 22 points and 5 steals. Arthur scored 16, followed by Price and Parker with 10 each, Parker also had 8 rebounds and six assists. Mitchell finished with 9 points and seven rebounds. Both teams are now tied for first place, I know each district settles ties in their own way, so it’s either margin of victory between the two or a playoff game. I’ll keep you posted.