Rusk Eagles Gymnasium, Monday, February 17, 2020 –
The Center Lady Roughriders Varsity Basketball team faced a tall task as they competed against the Fairfield Lady Eagles at Rusk High School on Monday. The two teams competed in a Class 4A bi-district elimination game with Fairfield being the District Champion of District 19, with a 29-4 overall record and 7-1 conference mark. Center came into the contest with a 10-10 record and they were the fourth-place representative of District 20, with a 4-4 district win-loss record.
The game was close early as the Lady Eagles only led 9-6 with two minutes remaining in the first quarter but, catastrophe struck for the Lady ‘Riders as four steals in the final minutes of the period, which all led to scores, gave Fairfield a 17-6 lead going into the second quarter.
Fairfield outpaced Center 22-7 points in the second stanza and this gave them a 39-13 advantage over CHS at halftime. The Lady Eagles were able to swell their lead to thirty points at 53-23 by the end of the third stanza. They eventually went on to take the win by a 73-34 score to move on in the UIL Texas Girl’s Basketball Playoffs.
Leading Fairfields offense was Braden Bossier with 20 points. Center’s Ja’Kayla Parks was high-scorer for the Lady ‘Riders with 15 points.
Center Lady Roughrider’s Head Coach Doug Boone and his staff have a lot to look forward to next year as they should be returning all but one member on this year’s playoff team. While senior guard Jakayla Weathered will be missed Center has much talent to build upon.
Next Fairfield will face the winner of Tuesday’s playoff between the third-place Hillsboro High School Lady Eagles from District 17 and the third-place District 18 Robinson Lady Rockets.
