Lady Indians Basketball advances to Regional Tournament, faces Tatum

Sanger celebrates while Melissa fans show disappointment at the ending of the game.

Sanger was down 10 points early to Melissa in the regional-quarterfinal playoff game at Frisco Wakeland High School on Tuesday. Sanger battled back and took the first lead in the game in the fourth quarter. The Lady Indians went into the fourth trailing 48-43 but went on an 8-0 run. Chloe Malone, who finished the game with 16 points, tallied the first four in the run and forced a turnover.

Sanger went on to win 58-53 to advance to the Class 4A Region II tournament at Texas A&M-Commerce Friday and Saturday.

Melissa had a chance to tie the game with 12 seconds. Melissa brought the ball down without taking a timeout and almost got a layup from Sally Clemmons, but the ball rolled off the rim and Sanger secured the defensive rebound.

Clemmons then got into an altercation with Sanger’s Brooke Rollins (11 points), which ended with Clemmons receiving a technical foul for shoving Rollins. The Lady Indians already had been fouled to stop the clock, and Maci Turkoly hit three of the four free throws to seal the win.

“We knew beating Melissa would be extremely hard. They are a very tough offensive team that shoot the three well. We had trouble stopping them in the first half and we were behind 10 or more point at one time,” said third-year Sanger coach Tracy Sykes. “We got better at the beginning of the second half and finally took the lead fourth quarter. Kenzie Turkoly did a fantastic job for us tonight and made some key shots to help us. This was a huge win for us and a major step toward our ultimate goal. I am so happy for the girls because they deserve this!”

Sanger struggled in the first half against Melissa’s full-court pressure. But things changed, as the Lady Indians started to get more stops on defense, Melissa was not able to set up a full press and had to retreat into a half-court defense, which helped get Sanger’s Maci Turkoly (13 points) and Kenzie Turkoly (six points).

Melissa 19 15 14 5 -- 53 Sanger 15 17 11 15 -- 58 Melissa (32-4) -- Taylor Carney 12, Charley Lane 11, Taylor Thomas 10, Sally Clemmons 9, Ashley Gideon 8, Natalie Conlin 3. Sanger (30-7) -- Chloe Malone 16, Maci Turkoly 13, Brooke Rollins 11, Kenzie Turkoly 6, Tatum Whitewood 3, Allye Morrow 2, Abbie Kenning 2, Desi Gonzalez 2.