No. 20 Menard Girls Hold Off Eden to Win District Title

EDEN, TX — The Menard Lady Jackets are the No. 20-ranked girls basketball team in the state in Class 1A, and it’s easy to see why with the way they play defense.

Menard managed only 34 points Tuesday against district rival Eden, but the Lady Jackets’ defense made sure that was more than enough in a 34-26 win that locked up the District 12-1A title.

Menard’s pesky defense grabbed 20 steals and made it difficult for Eden to find any quality looks down the stretch.

The Lady Jackets improved to 21-3 overall with their 18th straight win, and they’re 11-0 in district with one game left to play in the regular season.

“I said from the start that we can be really good if we will be really tough,” Menard head coach Grant Gooch said. “We had six huge defensive rebounds in the fourth quarter to secure the possession and secure the game, and it was toughness and grit more than anything else tonight.”

Menard’s Sabri Zamora was a menace with seven steals to lead the Lady Jackets’ defense, while Perla Pecina had six steals.

Pecina and Kylee Sommerville each had a team-high nine points, while Zamora had eight points.

Sommerville led the way on the boards with seven rebounds, followed by Pecina with six and Makenzie Wright with five.

Menard led 10-8 after the first quarter and 22-16 at halftime, but Eden never went away. The Lady Bulldogs were as close as 24-22 late in the third quarter before Zamora hit a 3-pointer, then had a steal that led to a layup for a 29-22 advantage heading into the fourth.

“We both played really good defense, I think, and we scrapped and everything,” Eden head basketball coach Johnny Willis said. “They made some threes, and we couldn’t recover from that. And we got in a little foul trouble in the first half that hurt us.”

Eden fell to 11-16 overall and 7-2 in district, but the Lady Bulldogs are still in good position to finish as the district’s No. 2 seed.

They’ll play again Friday at Paint Rock.

Menard will complete its regular season next Tuesday at home against Paint Rock before the Lady Jackets begin the playoffs.

Gooch said this year’s group has already put together a memorable season.

“This is my third year here, and after every year, I lose a really important senior or two, and everyone in the community says, ‘Oh, it’s going to be so hard,’ … and these girls just keep stepping up,” Gooch said. “It’s someone different every game or two or three girls. I could not be more proud of what these girls have been able to do.”

Menard 34, Eden 26

Menard   10   12   7   5 — 34

Eden   8   8   6   4   — 26

MENARD — Kaitlyn Whitaker 2, Kylee Sommerville 9, Makenzie Wright 6, Sabri Zamora 8, Perla Pecina 9. 

EDEN — Kyra Segura 4, Emma Sperry 4, Dalli Roberts 4, Emma Miller 4, Paige Lowe 2, Nayeli Ponce 8.