Photo by Kinsey Durham
The 2021-22 season ended in the Class 4A , Region II tournament , but not this year as sophomore Khayla Garrett ( 11 ) helped guide the Bearettes to two victories at the Field House at Texas A & M Commerce .
Photo by Gracey Tucker
Media recognition continued almost a month after winning the title as players and coaches were interviewed by CBS 19 and the Tyler paper during a ceremony at the high school .
Our huge Brownsboro contingent at Commerce got to celebrate as the Bearettes cut down the net .
Next , Bear Radio got to travel to the state tournament being played at the Alamodome in San Antonio . We arrived at the Alamodome early on Friday to watch the first semifinal game between number one ranked and undefeated Argyle and second ranked Hardin-Jefferson .
It was a tremendously competitive game between two terrific teams . Argyle took the lead early but in the end Hardin-Jefferson prevailed 49-42 .
The Bearettes were up next in the second semifinal facing off against the Frederickburg Billies . The Bearettes looked a little tight early with several turnovers , trailing 12-8 at the end of the first .
The second quarter was completely different with Bearettes dominating and finishing with a halftime lead of 26-21 .
The third quarter was very evenly contested and the Bearettes expanded their lead by two finishing the quarter with a 38-31 lead . The Billies started the fourth quarter with four straight free throws to narrow the gap to three points .
The game continued to be tight and the Bearette lead was still only six points with three minutes left in the game . From that point it was all Bearettes and they pulled away for a 60-41 victory to advance to their first state championship game .
The state championship game on Saturday evening proved to be a huge challenge for the Bearettes . Hardin-Jefferson had a much bigger and very athletic team that included McDonalds All-American Ashlon Jackson who had already signed to play at Duke next year .
The Bearettes got off to a slow start and didn ’ t score their first basket until the 5:57 mark of the first quarter but still only trailed 4-3 . The Bearette offense came alive at that point and at the end of the first period the game was tied at 14- 14 . The second period was back and forth with several lead changes .
Neither team ever led by more than three and at halftime Hardin-Jefferson led 29-26 . The teams continued to trade baskets during the early part of the third period and at the 4:07 mark Jackson drained a three pointer to give Hardin-Jefferson the lead 36-35 .
That would be their last points of the quarter as the Bearettes started an 8-0 run to finish the quarter leading 43-36 . In the fourth , the Bearettes were able to maintain their lead and with 52 seconds left Paris Miller made two free throws to give the Bearettes a 9 point lead at 50-41 .
Just when it seemed the Bearettes had the game in hand their previously reliable free throw shooting deserted them . Hardin-Jefferson closed the gap to 50-46 with 30 seconds to go .
The Bearettes were able to hang on with their defense and Hardin-Jefferson banked in a meaningless three pointer at the buzzer to make the final score 50-49 .
The huge Brownsboro crowd erupted as the Bearettes celebrated their first ever state championship . Tears flowed as the Bearettes were presented with their medals and the state championship trophy .
The tournament MVP award was deservedly awarded to Brownsboro senior Mekhayia Moore . Bear Radio would like to congratulate all of the players and coaches and say what a pleasure and honor it was to broadcast the games during this historic season .
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