And for the second straight time, the Lady Rangers will face a familiar opponent — College Station.
Rudder, ranked 15th in Class 5A, set up a rematch of last year’s 86-37 College Station victory with a pair of wins at The Armory on Friday, beating 6A’s No. 17 Fort Bend Ridge Point 64-56 in the quarterfinals and cruising past Mississippi’s Harrison Central 79-57 in the semifinals.
Rudder and College Station will play for the tournament crown at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Cougar Gym.
“It’s going to be a big game because we know them and they know us,” Rudder coach John Shelton said. “Last year, we came out real flat in the championship, and they played great, and it got ugly. So I told them come out with some energy.”
The Lady Rangers didn’t have trouble with energy Friday as their full-court press forced Ridge Point and Central into mistakes that they turned into quick points in building big early leads.
Rudder forced Central into 19 first-half turnovers, ending the second quarter on an 11-4 run to grab a 41-24 lead. The Red Rebellettes cut the lead to 48-37 early in the third thanks to a trio of 3-pointers from Shayla Price, but the Lady Rangers’ pressure defense quickly put the game out of reach as seven of the next nine Central possessions ended in a turnover. Rudder capitalized on offense, ballooning the lead to 64-40 on a 3-pointer from Rakia Lee with 2:23 left in the third quarter. Lee, who scored a game-high 18 points, hit a pair of 3s during the run.
“The whole difference in the tournament is the way we’re playing defense,” Shelton said. “Rakia Lee and Asani [McGee] are stepping up, playing defense and guarding the other team’s best player. That’s the difference. We live and die on defense, and it’s really starting to come together.”
The Lady Rangers took their largest lead at 75-44 after a pair of free throws from Deondra Young with 3:32 left in the game before Rudder began running clock on offense. Young scored 14 points against Central, and Tianna Mathis and Cameron Richards, who made a trio of 3-pointers, added 10 each. Mathis left the game after falling hard on her wrist in the second half, but Shelton expects her to be ready to play against College Station.
Young scored a game-high 18 points in the quarterfinal against Ridge Point with 14 coming in the second half. Rudder turned to its senior post after the Lady Panthers cut the lead to 43-40 late in the third quarter. McGee added 13 points.
Rudder 64
Fort Bend Ridge Point 56
(Numbers after names indicate field goals made, free throws made-attempted, points.)
RIDGE POINT — Raven Adams 6 1-2 15; Jada Chatman 1 1-2 3; Marchelle Willis 1 4-4 6; Aleighyah Fontenot 6 0-0 16; Jocelyn Coleman 2 2-3 7; Dala Allen 3 3-3 9.
RUDDER — Rakia Lee 0 0-1 0; Aliyah Johnson 1 1-2 3; Bryanna Turner 3 0-2 6; Asani McGee 5 3-5 13; Tianna Mathis 3 3-10 9; Cameron Richards 1 0-0 3; Keaundra Kelly 4 2-4 12; Deondra Young 8 2-2 18.
Ridge Point 9 12 19 16 — 56
Rudder 19 17 9 19 — 64
3-pointers: Ridge Point 7 (Fontenot 4, Adams 2, Coleman 1); Rudder 3 (Kelly 2, Richards 1).
Rudder 79
Harrison Central (Miss.) 57
(Numbers after names indicate field goals made, free throws made-attempted, points.)
CENTRAL — Shaniya Whavers 0 0-1 0; De’asia Booker 3 2-4 8; Khyla Ragins 3 0-0 8; Laila Walker 4 1-4 9; Je’Mya Evans 5 1-2 11; Shayla Price 5 0-0 13; Jaslyn Davis 4 0-0 8.
RUDDER (20-1) — Rakia Lee 8 0-3 18; Aliyah Johnson 2 1-2 7; Bryanna Turner 2 2-3 6; Asani McGee 2 0-0 4; Tianna Mathis 5 0-4 10; Cameron Richards 3 1-2 10; Alexandria Green 2 0-0 4; Keaundra Kelly 3 0-0 6; Deondra Young 5 4-5 14.
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