This was a great season for 806 girls basketball and this year's edition of girls' teams really exceeded expectations and went above-and-beyond what was expected. We had teams like Vega, who was was ranked in the top two all season in 2A and Amarillo and Canyon in 5A and 4A who were number one all year! Frenship held their own in the highest classification in 6A and made it to the Regional Tournament and almost beat Cedar Hill! And then there's Nazareth; who won their 24th title in 29 appearances at State in 1A: A National Public School Record!
Which brings us to 3A; well particularly District 2-3A which was easily the toughest district in the State with two teams that were ranked in the top five all year in Idalou and Shallowater with teams like Brownfield and Littlefield also making some noise! How about we mention Slaton as well? They finished fifth in the district and had 23 wins! WOW. So, with a relatively young squad and one of the toughest schedules we have ever seen, how did Shallowater get it done to secure their second State Title under Coach Chuck Darden this season? Great leadership, a lot of timely plays, luck, support and just the want to! Let's break down the season overall for the Shallowater Fillies.
EARLY SUCCESS
How about their schedule? Shallowater scheduled very tough to open the season and had wins over teams that made deep playoff runs in Lubbock Christian; who made it to the State Semifinals in TAPPS and Hereford; who made it to the Regional Tournament in 4A! Their district play started early with wins over Idalou and Slaton before the Caprock Tournament which really showed the State what the Fillies were about.
CAPROCK TOURNAMENT
Ok, as Coach Chuck Darden stated at the press conference after their State Title win, the Caprock Tournament championship really let us all, and the Fillies know just how special their team was this season. With wins over Frenship, a 6A team and Lubbock-Cooper and Monterey who were 5A teams that really set the stage for an unbelievable district run and those wins gave the Fillies the reassurance that they could beat anybody in the state; regardless of class or any other obstacle that could be thought of.
THE TOUGHEST DISTRICT IN THE STATE GOT THEM SEASONED FOR THE PLAYOFFS
As we knew before the season started, District 2-3A was the best district in the State, and this was where the Fillies suffered their only two losses this season. Idalou was ranked in the top five all season, Shallowater was ranked number one for over half the season, Littlefield was in-and-out the Top 25 and lastly how about Brownfield; who was very young this season and blossomed late and Beat #7 Shallowater and #3 Idalou for consecutive wins in four days! There was no night off in a district that started play on December 17th and ran all the way to February! Three of the four teams in this district that made the playoffs played in the Regional Quarterfinals too!
PLAYOFF RUN AND 3A REGIONAL TOURNEY
In the playoffs, Shallowater put it all together and blew out Muleshoe, scored 38-straight points before Sonora even put up a point in their Area round win and got by a tough Bushland team in the 3A Regional Quarterfinal, 46-43. In the Regional Tournament the Fillies defeated a great Jim Ned team, 47-40 and then set up a third game between the Fillies and Idalou for a chance to go to state. This game was the State Title game, in my opinion, and was hard-fought all the way to the end as Shallowater held off the Lady Cats, 45-42 for a huge win, This was also the first of three-straight games that Tynli Harris played with a severe turf toe: A toe so bad that she won't be doing anything on it for the next 10 weeks. That Idalou vs Shallowater game had more than double the fans that attended the State Final in 3A as that atmosphere was nothing like I've seen in 10 years.
STATE TOURNAMENT DOMINATION
The Fillies obviously were ready for the State Tournament in San Antonio as they destroyed Schulenburg, 61-25 and had that game in hand after the first quarter with a 21-9 advantage. Bree Brattain had 21 points and 12 rebounds for Shallowater in that game and was really in her zone. In the final tilt against Woodville, Shallowater started that game down 7-1 before going on a 28-9 run to really seal that game as the Fillies had a 29-16 had at the half. Jenna Willer had 13 and Bree had 29 more points on her way to the 3A State Tournament MVP. Jenna, Taylor Moravcik and Bree were also named to the 3A All-Tournament team. So, the Fillies clinched a major championship for themselves and their supportive community and made the 806 proud in the process! Chuck Darden led a group of youngsters primarily alone with Aragon as a strong leader and got the best out of them to secure this title. He should be commended for the job he did to get all these stars to buy in! The scary thought here.. They return most of all their stars back for next season...We could be right back here again in 2021. Congrats, Fillies...
