Irion County knocks off No. 12 Hermleigh in Region II-1A girls basketball semifinals

SNYDER – Irion County coach Jacob Conner doesn’t consider himself to be too superstitious, but he hasn’t done a post-game interview all season – and he didn’t want to jinx his team.

The Lady Hornets have at lest one more game to play, after knocking off No. 12 Hermleigh 36-33 in a Region II-1A girls basketball semifinal game Friday at The Coliseum.

So, Conner kept quiet and deferred to one of his players – just for luck.

“We’re speechless right now,” said KK Hart, one of three seniors on the Irion County team. “We expected it. It was our goal, and we really pulled through tonight. Hermleigh was a great team, but the heart on our team and our motivation can’t be stopped.”

It might have helped that Hart didn’t know Hermleigh was making its sixth straight region tournament appearance, including region finals berth the previous two seasons.

The Lady Cardinals won region titles in 2018 and 2019 as well.

Maybe not knowing that history helped the unranked Lady Hornets, who went into the game as the underdog.

“We just knew we wanted to play our game,” Hart said. “We know what we can do, and we really just wanted to get out there and get after it. It took us a minute to do that, but when we did, we came out on top.”

Melanie Rainey scored a game-high 21 points to lead Irion County (28-8), while Acelyn Fowler had six.

Syreah Callaway led Hermleigh (27-11) with 13 points, and Juli Munoz followed with 11.

Irion County advances to play No. 6 Veribest – the Lady Hornets’ district rival – for the region title at 2 p.m. Saturday at The Coliseum. Veribest beat Highland 36-31 in overtime in the earlier game.

The two teams split in District 11-1A – each winning on their home court. The Lady Hornets won 48-45 on Jan. 20 in Mertzon, while Veribest won 36-29 on Feb. 7 in Veribest.

“It was amazing,” Hart said about the win. “We’re so excited to play tomorrow. It’s going to be a big game.”

Lady Cards start fast

Hermleigh scored the game’s first nine points and led by as much as 10 (22-12) in the first half before Irion County closed within seven (24-17) at halftime.

So, what was Hart thinking at halftime?

“Let’s go. It’s not over,” she said. “It’s only seven points. It’s only so many possessions. We’ve got this.”

The Lady Hornets outscored Hermleigh 10-1 in the final 4:21 of the third quarter to pull within one (31-30) going into the final quarter.

Irion County took its first lead of the game at 34-33 on Rainey’s basket with 3:26 to play.

Hermleigh, which hit the first basket of the fourth quarter with 6:45 remaining, couldn’t get another to fall.

“Couldn’t find the basket, and we ran several different sets and hitters, and still couldn’t get a bucket when we had to have one,” Hermleigh coach Tommy Cross said.

And the Lady Cards had their chances. Irion County missed the front-end of two 1-and-1s in the final 1:02 clinging to a one-point lead, before Rainey sank a basket in the closing seconds for a 36-33 lead.

Callaway, a freshman, got a good look for a game-tying 3-point goal just before the buzzer, but it didn’t fall.

“We missed several that I thought we had a good chance to make, especially there at the end, when you’re really counting on those, and you can’t get it to fall,” Cross said. “It’s tough.”

After Summer Smith hit a 3 for a 30-21 lead with 4:40 left in the third quarter, Hermleigh hit only one field goal the rest of the way.

“The biggest thing I saw, we struggled offensively,” Cross said. “We had a hard time finishing on some shots. Some shots we normally make didn’t go in today.”

Then there the turnovers that fueled Irion County’s comeback in the second half.

“We turned the ball over way too much today,” Cross said. “That was the other problem we had. We struggled scoring, and we turned the ball over way too much.”

Cross, pointing out his team’s history in the region tournament, said his team wasn’t nervous or intimidated by the big stage.

“Not too big of a game for us,” Cross said. “For whatever reason, we just struggled offensively.”

Emotional end

It was a tough end for the Lady Cards, and it showed when that last shot didn’t fall. Callaway stepped off the court in tears. Just a few days earlier Hermleigh hit a late 3 to beat Eula in the same arena.

“It’s my first year in Hermleigh, and I was just talking to the girls a while ago about the relationship that we have built this year,” Cross said. “It’s been truly amazing, and I know that means a lot to the girls.

“The other night we hit a 3 late to win that one. Just the emotions right after the game. Several girls crying, hugging. It makes it fun. It makes you realize it does mean a lot to them.”

REGION II-1A SEMIFINALS

Irion County 36, Hermleigh 33

Hermleigh … 15 … 9 … 7 … 2 – 33

Irion County … 5 … 12 … 13 … 6 – 36

HERMLEIGH (27-11) – Juli Munoz 4 2-4 11, Brooklyn O’Quin 0 0-2 0, Summer Smith 1 0-0 3, Syreah Callaway 6 0-1 13, Destiney Hopkins 1 0-0 2, Sydney Hancock 2 0-0 4. Totals 14 2-7 33.

IRION COUNTY (28-8) – Acelyn Fowler 3 0-0 6, Audrey Tillman 0 0-0 0, Baylee Rainey 0 2-4 2, Melanie Rainey 7 6-6 21, Berkley Callaway 2 0-0 4, Katie Casey 1 1-2 3, KK Hart 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 9-12 36.

3-Point Goals – Hermleigh 3 (Munoz, Smith, Callaway), Irion County 1 (M. Rainey). Total Fouls – Hermleigh 12, Irion County 10. Fouled Out – None. Technical Fouls – None.