By Jason Gordon
There aren’t many people I’d travel to Waller on my birthday to visit.
The first reaction to everyone who asked gave me when I told them I’d be spending my birthday on Friday evening in Waller was, “I think I’ve heard of it, but where the heck is it?” Exactly.
But one group I certainly didn’t mind making the long trek of nearly three hours east into dimming light and then total darkness to a city named Waller that’s close to, well nothing, to watch was the Hays Lady Rebel basketball team.
I was actually looking forward to it.
You see, this is a team that’s taken this sports fanatic on so many thrill rides over the last decade-plus I felt I owed it to them to spend my 24th birthday (Come on, allow me to instill at least a little bit of humor into this column) right there with them in good old Waller.
The Lady Rebs didn’t disappoint, and even provided the kind of drama that’s become their trademark over the years in the playoffs.
Down nine points late in the second quarter to a Beaumont Central team that was coming off a 82-39 victory in the first round of the playoffs last Tuesday night against Houston King, Lady Rebel head coach Donny McDonald commented, “Right then I was hoping we weren’t going to beat by 50.”
McDonald, always one who plays his cards close to the vest, and the Lady Rebels waited until the fourth quarter to turn up the heat on Beaumont Central, and the Lady Jaguars from far-east Texas scurried away like scared kittens as Hays eventually pulled away for the victory.
Stories I get to write about Lady Rebel players like Paige Lord, a solid player all season but one who stepped up her game and looked more like WNBA all-time great Lisa Leslie in that pivotal fourth quarter, have drawn me to this team over the years.
Now I love all sports, particularly high school sports, but there’s no question from the moment the Hays girls basketball team made it all the way to the regional finals way back during my senior year at the school, and even before that during some glory years in the 1970s and 80s, the Lady Rebel hoopsters have always been special.
I’ll never forget the 2001 team that knocked off three-time defending Class 5A Region IV champion Corpus Christi Carroll in triple-overtime when Lauren Guerrero made a steal and coasted to a layup and seconds later Jennifer Capps blocked Carroll’s all-state state player and Texas A&M signee Sabrina Mitchell’s shot away to earn McDonald his first trip to the UIL State Tournament in Austin.
After several other deep playoff runs of late, the core group of this current 2009-10 Lady Rebel team created yet another thrilling moment as the decade came to a close when Ashley Rankine’s layup in the closing seconds and EJ Joyner’s subsequent steal in the Class 4A Region III finals last March once again sent Hays to the state tourney after an amazing 41-40 victory over arch-rival Del Valle.
So when I told people that asked if I had any big plans for my birthday that I was going to watch a high school basketball playoff game in some place called Waller, I paid no attention to cynical comments like, “Well that sounds exciting!”
So thanks Angeleigh Davis, Ashley Magallanez, Ashley Rankine, Chrissy Arias, Brooke Borreson, Kelly Posey, Ashley Johnson, Paige Lord, Jaleasa Jones, Kaitlyn Barnes, Julia Burich, and Javon Baca.
With apologies to the pair of dress shoes, new shirts and Kohl’s gift card I received as presents, another sensational Lady Rebel basketball playoff victory – even in some place called Waller – topped them all.
