No. 15 Pittsburg Advances to Third Round with 42-32 Victory Against Bullard

LINDALE -- Pittsburg started each half well, and though Bullard shadowed Cheyenne Ramey wherever she went, she still made the Lady Panthers pay.

No. 15 Pittsburg outscored Bullard by 18 points in the first and third quarters and got a perfect shooting night from Ramey in Friday's 42-32 Class 3A Region II area girls basketball playoff at Lindale High School.

Ramey, a senior forward, took only six shots, but made all of the, including a pair of three-pointers to finish with 14 points, five rebounds, and four assists. Senior post Meagan Peters and senior guard Meyika Farmer, who came off the bench, scored six apiece for Pittsburg (30-5), which had six players score at least four points each.

Pittsburg plays Spring Hill at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Winona in a 3A Region II quarterfinal. The winner plays at 6 p.m. next Friday (Feb. 22) in a Region II semifinal at Texas A&M-Commerce.

Pittsburg used a 12-0 first-half run to take command, but Bullard fought back behind junior guard Lexi Abercrombie's eight second-quarter points to cut the lead to 19-14 by halftime. Veteran Pittsburg coach Debra Manley regrouped her squad at the break.

"We did a different defense to try to shut them down, but I had to switch at half," she said. "I thought, 'You know, we've just gotta go with what got us here.' It was taking us out of our offensive stuff. We just switched back and went with it. I'm proud of the kids. They played hard. We got great minutes out of Meyika Farmer."

The switch worked.

Pittsburg outscored Bullard 16-7 in the third quarter to take a 35-21 lead to the final period. The Lady Pirates scored the third's final seven points, including Ramey's buzzer-beating, right-wing three-pointer when she freed herself from a defender with a pump fake.

Bullard never cut Pittsburg's lead to single digits in the final period.

Bullard junior Bridgette Taylor scored a game-high 15 points, including 13 in the second half when she scored all but five of the Lady Panthers' points. Abercrombie added 10 points for Bullard, which returns its entire roster for the 2013-14 season thanks to a senior-free squad this year.

Pittsburg's size advantage showed in the rebounding column. The Lady Pirates won the glass 22-12 and shot 64.3 percent (18-for-28) to Bullard's 28.6 percent (10-for-35). Pittsburg held Bullard to 5-for-20 three-point shooting.

Senior guard/forward DeNasia Watson played a key role in Pittsburg's defensive efforts. After scoring a game-high 22 points in Pittsburg's 26-point first-round win against Quinlan Ford, Watson snagged seven steals against Bullard.

Spring Hill beat Emory Rains 63-42 on Thursday night to reach next week's third-round meeting with Pittsburg.

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Class 3A Region II
Area Playoff

No. 15 Pittsburg 42, Bullard 32

Lindale High School

Bullard -- 4 10 7 11 -- 32
Pittsburg -- 13 6 16 7 -- 42

Bullard (24-10) -- Bridgette Taylor 15, Lexi Abercrombie 10, Lexi Kirgan 4, Madison Slayter 3.
Pittsburg (30-5) -- Cheyenne Ramey 14, Meyika Farmer 6, Meagan Peters 6, Kasey Avinger 5, Shakira Duffey 5, DeNasia Watson 4, Jasmine Walker 2.