Lady Panthers lose in regional final

PLANO, TX – After winning its first four playoff games by double-digits, the Plano East girls basketball team finally met its match in the regional final.

The Lady Panthers took on the South Grand Prairie Lady Warriors as two of the final eight teams in Class 6A, and the Lady Panthers couldn’t contain the hot shooting Lady Warriors, who won 63-51.

Plano East was able to jump out to an early lead, with their full-court pressure defense overwhelming South Grand Prairie in the first few minutes of the game. The Lady Panthers opened the game on a 7-0 run where they were able to capitalize off of two steals early in the game.

As Plano East held a 12-4 lead late in the first, South Grand Prairie, who is ranked No. 4 in the state for Class 6A, began to get hot. They hit two 3-pointers to even the score at 12 at the end of the quarter.

After an early Lady Panthers basket, the Lady Warriors responded by getting back-to-back layups off of steals. That gave South Grand Prairie their first lead of the game and they didn’t look back, going on a 10-0 run and outscoring Plano East 19-6 in the second quarter.

After South Grand Prairie extended the league to as much as 20 points, Plano East mounted an ill-fated comeback late in the fourth quarter to close the gap to 12. Donavia Hall, who led the Lady Panthers with 17 points, hit a couple of shots behind the arc late in the game to give Plano East a small chance late.

The Plano East loss sends South Grand Prairie into the state semifinals, while the Lady Panthers’ 19-game winning streak is snapped to end the season. Plano East finished 21-4 overall after an undefeated district championship run.