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Business as usual: Horn follows familiar script to playoff-opening win over Sachse
By DEVIN HASSON, dhasson@starlocalnews.com
Horn spent much of the season frustrating opponents on its way to the 12-5A championship.
They followed that same forumla to success once again on Monday.
The Jaguars put the defensive clamps on Sachse and the offense did more than enough to pull away for a 47-25 victory in a Class 5A bi-district playoff game at Poteet High School.
"It was the first playoff game and there were some jitters, but you have to get a lot of credit to Sachse, they are a very good team and they have a very good coach (Donna McCullough)," Horn head coach Kacie Brewer said. "We played well enough but there is definitely room for improvement."
The Jaguar defense, the best in the district this year, showed the Mustangs exactly why they earned that honor.
Sachse managed only six field goals in the game. In a contest that had more activity at the free throw line than in the flow of the game, the Mustangs were unable to take advantage of their chances, hitting only 13-of-25 from the charity stripe.
"We knew they had good guards so we really worked in practice to shut down their penetration, making sure we had good helpside defense and keeping them in front of us," Brewer said. "And we wanted to make sure to limit them to one shot ... Overall, I thought we did a good job."
Horn got off to just the start it wanted to. Jada Underwood scored six of her 10 points early in the first quarter as the Jaguars opened the game on an 8-0 run. Sachse committed nine turnovers in the opening period and Kristina Smith's jumper gave Horn a 13-4 lead.
"That was huge," Brewer said. "We were playing at Poteet, so that kind of gave us a homecourt advantage and then to get ahead, it really just helps settling everybody down."
The Jaguars kept the pressure on in the second quarter and two late baskets from Lauren Bradshaw, who had a team-high 13 points, pushed the advantage to 20-9 at halftime.
In the second half, other players stepped up. Dawn Nwoko, Makayla Hooker and Chelsea Lamb combined for 12 points and provided good energy on the court to help Horn maintain a comfortable cushion.
"I thought the bench was huge," Brewer said. "They gave us some great minutes and came up with some huge points at some big times."
Sachse was led by Lorian Benjamin and Cynthia Matthews, who each scored six points.
Horn now turns its attention to Plano East, who edged Richardson, 47-46, on Monday. The Panthers handed the Jaguars their first loss of the season, 57-49, back in November, but both teams understand that result will have no impact in their second meeting.
"That was a game we kind of let get away from us, but they are a very good team," Brewer said. "We feel like we are a lot better team than we were then and we know they are, too. It should be a good game and hopefully, one that we are able to win."
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