Lady Oilers advance to regional tournament; fall to FB Hightower
February 28, 2024
In 2022, the Lady Oilers came up short in the region finals to Summer Creek.
In 2023, Pearland avenged that loss to Summer Creek to claim the 6A Region III crown and advanced to the 6A state basketball tournament where they fell to DeSoto, the eventual state champion, in the state semifinals.
Now, in 2024, Pearland is back once again to face the Fort Bend Hightower Lady Hurricanes in the 6A Region III semifinals at 6:00 p.m. at the Alief ISD Campbell Center with the winner advancing to the finals on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.
Pearland punched their ticket to the region tournament with a thrilling 43-41 win over the C.E. King Lady Panthers.
Unfortunately, the Lady O's faced an aggressive, quick Fort Bend Hightower squad that pulled out a 43-38 victory.
Hightower, which entered surrendering a stingy 30.3 points per game, held Pearland 18 points fewer than its season average.
The Lady Hurricanes forced 14 turnovers. The Lady Oilers shot 3-for-12 from 3-point range. Hightower also out rebounded Pearland 32-18.
The first quarter belonged to Hightower as they outscored Pearland 19-9, but a never-say-die Pearland team fought back in the second quarter as Pearland outscored the Lady Hurricanes 10-7 to close the gap at halftime 26-19.
The Lady Hurricanes maintained their lead after the third quarter 9-6 which made the score 35-25 entering the final frame.
In the fourth quarter, Pearland furiously rallied, coming within 40-38 with 32.6 seconds left after going on a 13-5 run.
But the Lady Hurricanes were able to hold on as they got a big bucket from freshman post Ogechi Okeke and a clutch free throw from junior Kailee Beaudion to post the 43-38 final score to advance to the 6A Region III finals against Summer Creek.
Pearland was led in scoring by freshman sensation A'zyua Blair who scored 20 points while gathering three rebounds, two assists, four steals, and 6-of-7 from the free throw line. Junior Eliece Perry added seven points, seven rebounds, one steal, two blocks, and 3-of-4 from the charity stripe.
The Lady Oilers close out the season with a 34-5 overall record.
