It was another great weekend of basketball for the Varsity Arabians and after five games in their home tournament, they won second place! Facing different defensives and very aggressive teams, the Arabians were 4-1 for the weekend.
Preslee Quisenberry and Alissa Stehle were named to the All-Tournament team!
In their opening game against a big aggressive Harper team, the Arabians struggled offensively and were just a few points shy of the win in the end. It was their defense that stopped Harper from gaining a huge lead. Scored by quarter: Q1 8-13, Q2 79-21, Q3 29-32, Q4 36-39.
Stehle had 4 rebounds, Sierra Pompa had 3 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. Macey Hein had 11 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, and 3 steals. Quisenberry had 7 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. Megan Runyan scored 3 points, had 14 rebounds, 1 assists, 1 steal and 1 block. Clarissa Zamora score 4 points with 1 rebound and 1 assist. Ally Taylor scored 2 points. Maddie Mata scored 6 points with 3 rebounds and 1 steal.
Their second game of last Thursday was a turning point for them when they beat Knippa 76-40. “We really did a good job of bringing the intensity vs Knippa. We were able to get out and run some and we made shots. We scored in transition and off of turnovers and that is when we are at our best right now. We also shot the ball well from behind the arc going 5/10. This was a great bounce back game for us. The girls really responded with great energy and intensity,” stated Coach Jim Sessions.
Stehle had 4 points, 1 rebound, and 1 steal. Pompa had 7 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and 6 steals. Hein scored an impressive 21 points with 1 rebound, 2 assists, and 6 steals. Quisenberry had 7 points and 7 assists. Kaylee Howard had 2 points and 1 assists. Runyan had 3 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, and 3 steals. Gabby Rodrigues scored 9 points with 2 rebounds, and 3 steals. Zamora had 9 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 steals. Taylor scored 10 points with 9 rebounds, and 1 assist. Mata scored 4 with 4 rebounds and 5 assists. Scored by quarter: Q1 14-6, Q2 39-19, Q3 59-31, Q4 76-40.
Getting the points off of turnovers and a strong defense were key to the win against Comfort on Friday morning. “We again got off to a quick start and we did a great job of handling Comfort’s press and getting some easy baskets early. The ball moved well against Comfort as we totaled 17 assists as a team. We had a very balanced scoring attack against Comfort with 4 players scoring in double figures,” said Coach Sessions.
Stehle had 10 points and 3 rebounds. Pompa had 14 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assist. Hein scored 9 points, 3 rebounds, and 1 assist. Quisenberry had 6 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, and a steal. Runyan had 14 points, 9 rebounds, and 1 assist. Zamora had 4 points with 4 rebounds, and 2 steals. Taylor had 1 rebound and 1 steal. Mata had 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. Scores by quarter: Q119-15, Q2 35-25, Q3 47-29, Q4 57-49.
Friday’s last game was against the Providence Provets. Only allowing them to score 17 points, the Arabians came out strong early. “We did a good job of speeding their guards up and creating turnovers. We got up and down the floor and were able to get easy baskets as a result. Again, as in the tournament as a whole, it was a great team effort. We had double-digit assists as the ball really moved. We did a great job of making Providence uncomfortable in the half court set,” said Coach Sessions.
Mata had 2 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists and 2 steals. Taylor 5 points and 2 rebounds. Zamora 8 points, 6 rebounds and 1 assist. Rodriguez 1 point, 2 rebounds, and 3 steals. Runyan 9 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals. Howard 2 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, and 2 steals. Quisenberry 4 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 steals. Hein 10 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals, and a block. Pompa 9 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal. Stehle 2 points and 3 assists. Scores by quarter: Q1 19-6, Q2 29-7, Q3 38-11, Q4 52-17.
Their final game was against Bandera on Saturday. Taking control of the game early, moving the ball around and the defense working hard was the keys to this victory. “We did a good job of dictating the pace of the game and playing fast when we needed to do so. We did a good job of handling Bandera’s press and were able to convert off their press and executing well on offense,” said Coach Sessions.
Stehle 2 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assist, and 2 steals. Pompa 15 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals. Hein 7 points, 2 rebounds. 2 assists and a block. Quisenberry 2 points, 1 rebounds, and 4 assist. Howard 1 steal. Runyan 6 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, and a steal. Rodriguez 4 points, 1 rebound, and a steal. Zamora 4 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists. Taylor 2 points and 2 rebounds. Mata 15 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assists, and a block. Scores by quarter: Q1 15-7, Q2 34-13, Q3 51-20, Q4 57-34.
“In all, this tournament was good for our team. We did some good things this weekend and I feel we got better as a team. We showed a lot of character by bouncing back from a tough loss to start the tournament and winning our remaining games. We played with intensity and gave good effort. We did a good job of sharing the ball, getting out in transition, and creating easier opportunities. Our defensive intensity got better throughout the tournament. I feel like we got better as the tourney went on and we were able to get contributions from the entire team. In all, it was a great team effort. I was very pleased with the results of the weekend,” added Coach Sessions.
Overall the Arabians shot 53% of their free throws, scored 136 points off of 128 turn overs, and scored a total of 278 points in their five games and only allowed 176 points from their opponents. They are now 14-4 with only Boerne on December 14 and Cotulla on the 18th before the winter break.
By Dicy Chambers
Sports Writer
Arabians win 2nd in home tournament
