by JASON GORDON
Ashley Magallanez (pictured) and the Hays girls basketball beat Magnolia West in the first round of the Class 4A Region III playoffs Tuesday night in College Station. (Photo by Rudy Gonzalez)
Don’t be too surprised if one day a few of the Hays girls basketball team members have a desire to become Aggies.
For the second year in a row the Lady Rebels won a playoff game in the Bryan/College Station area.
After winning in Bryan on their way to the state tournament in 2009, Hays started off this year’s Class 4A Region III postseason run by coasting to a 49-28 opening-round win over Magnolia West at A&M Consolidated High.
Hays (25-9) now advances to play Beaumont Central, the 18th ranked team in Class 4A, Friday in the second round at Waller High School beginning at 7:30 p.m. The Lady Rebs are ranked No. 19 in the same statewide poll.
Early on against Magnolia West, Hays forward Angeleigh Davis was unstoppable. She scored 10 points in the frame to stake the Lady Rebs to a 12-8 lead.
Magnolia West, led by forward Angelique Guillory, tied the game at 15 in the second quarter, but soon after Hays guard Ashley Rankine made the Lady Mustangs pay for switching to a zone defense by nailing three of her four 3-pointers on the night to help the Lady Rebs take a 25-17 lead at the break.
Davis (22) and Rankine (16) eventually combined to score 38 of Hays’ 49 total points.
“I’ve never seen them that hot,” Hays head coach Donny McDonald said. “Angeleigh didn’t miss a shot in the first quarter, and Rankine just bombed away after they went to that zone.”
In the second half, the Lady Rebels played their trademark style of smothering defense, creating numerous turnovers and allowing Magnolia West only 11 points as Hays pulled away for the easy victory.
“We played some awesome defense,” McDonald said. “I told our team at halftime that Magnolia West is team that has come back in the fourth quarter many times this year, but we just wore them down.”
Guillory led Magnolia West with 17 points, one below her season’s average. She was one of only three Lady Mustangs to score in the game.
