Merkel girls basketball finds offense, eases past Bangs in Region I-3A bi-district playoff

It took a little time to get going, but once the Merkel girls basketball team found its rhythm there was little doubt left in McMurry's Kimbrell Arena on Monday night.

The Lady Badgers led by 13 at halftime and dominated the third quarter to help put the Region I-3A bi-district playoff game away against Bangs in a 42-16 victory. Merkel (25-8) advances to face Nocona in the area round for a second-straight year, Friday at 6:30 p.m. in Granbury.

It took 2:23 for a basket to be scored, and Merkel's final five points of the quarter came late for a 9-4 lead at the end of the first. The lead grew to 19-6 at the halftime break when coach Laura Lange tried to settle her team down.

It worked.

"Our shots weren't falling in the first half," Lange said. "We talked about it at halftime. We said we've got to come out and we wanted 15 points in the third quarter. I think they came out and put up 16 in the third quarter."

Even when Merkel wasn't putting points on the board with offense, it was making sure Bangs couldn't either with a suffocating defense. Every time the Lady Dragons (15-19) got a shot off, it was contested. And that was when the Lady Badgers weren't getting turnovers.

"Our defense was there tonight and held them defensively," Lange said. "... Defensively, we just got after it. They were flustered, I don't know if they were used to the type of pressure we put on them. That was our game plan going in, and the girls executed it to the fullest."

Honey Keely knocked down a 3-pointer for Bangs with 3:27 left in the first to get the Lady Dragons on the board. But offense was hard to come by all night. Trenedi Deal, Kyra Smith and Kayleah Hall all had four points each to lead Bangs offensively.

The game wasn't too big for the Lady Badgers, who were battle-tested throughout their nondistrict schedule and again playing in a difficult District 5-3A, won by No. 2 Jim Ned. 

"Usually there's the first-round jitters. They're excited, but they're nervous," Lange said. "Sometimes that can affect your performance, can affect your shooting and those things. But I really feel like we've played so many big games and so many tough competitors that we were ready for it. More than anything, I think they were excited for it.

"Even though our shots weren't falling, we didn't panic, they didn't freak out. They knew to ride it through, and we used our defense to get some momentum on the offensive end. I was super proud of their performance. I thought they came out and performed well for the first round."

Alyssa O'Malley got things started offensively for Merkel with five points in the first quarter, while Alyssa White added four of her own. In the second quarter, Kaydi Pursley knocked down a pair of 3-pointers to get going and finished with a game-high 14 points, while O'Malley added 12 of her own.

When things weren't always clicking on offense, having a veteran like Pursley and scorer like O'Malley step up is exactly what the Lady Badgers needed.

"They're a big part of our offense," Lange said. "Once the lid kind of lifted off the bucket for them, it was smooth sailing. They were able to put up quite a few good looks ... They finally started dropping and (Pursley) hit her momentum, Alyssa (O'Malley) hit her momentum and it was awesome."

Now the Lady Badgers will get another shot at Nocona, who knocked them out in the second round a year ago, 63-47. After that game, Lange went back to the drawing board to help prepare Merkel for another tough road in the playoffs and a Region I-3A that boasts five top-10 teams.

"We went and played in big tournaments and played some 6A schools," Lange said. "We're hoping that all that and playing those teams and different styles of teams, our hope is all that preparation will pay off for us on Friday and help us compete and take it to that next level and beat those teams.

"We've played some great competition. We played, I think, 13 state-ranked opponents. Hopefully all of that will prepare us for the next game because from here on out you've got to beat the best. You've got No. 1s the rest of the way."

REGION I-3A BI-DISTRICT PLAYOFF

Merkel 42, Bangs 16

Bangs     4    2     4    6—  16

Merkel    9   10   16    6—  42

BANGS (15-19) — Trenedi Deal 1 2-6 4, Kayleah Hall 1 2-2 4, Maggie Morales 0 0-2 0, Honey Keely 1 0-0 3, Jacee Miller 0 0-0 0, Brookelann Mullins 0 1-2 1, Kyra Smith 2 0-0 4. Totals 5 5-12 16.

MERKEL (25-8) — Morgan Tipton 0 0-0 0, Callie Freeman 0 0-0 0, Avery Holloway 1 0-0 2, Kaydi Pursley 6 0-0 14, McKayla Bermea 1 1-2 3, Alyssa White 2 0-2 4, R.J. Doan 0 0-0 0, Sydnee Gilbreath 1 0-0 2, Alyssa O'Malley 5 0-0 12, Alaunna White 2 1-2 5. Totals 18 2-6 42

3-point goals — Bangs 1 (Keely 1), Merkel 4 (Pursley 2, O'Malley 2). Fouled out — None. Technical fouls — None. Total fouls — Bangs 8, Merkel 12.

Jordan Hofeditz covers Abilene high schools and colleges, Big Country schools and other local sports. Follow him on Twitter at @jhofeditz.