Episcopal to host Second Baptist in area battle

A year ago, the Second Baptist girls basketball team whipped Episcopal, winning both meetings by respective scores of 45-32 and 76-49.

But Second Baptist head coach Eric Boettcher expects a different outcome when the Eagles travel to Episcopal's Crum Gym for Friday night's non-district game.

"I haven't seen them play, but I've been following their scores," Boettcher said. "It seems they're much-improved. They could give us a battle."

Second Baptist would appear to have the edge. As of last week, the Eagles were listed at No. 19 in the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches' private school poll. Episcopal, on the other hand, was unranked, although head coach Lauren Mitchell hopes to have the Knights in contention in the Southwest Preparatory Conference.

ABOUT THE GAME

• Matchup: Second Baptist Eagles (14-4 record entering the week) at Episcopal Knights (10-2)

• When: 5 p.m., Friday, Dec. 10

• Where: Crum Gym, Episcopal

• What's at stake: Second Baptist competes in TAPPS District 4-4A, while Episcopal plays in the SPC. However, a win over a quality opponent would only add momentum as the teams wrap up the first half of the season.

• Second Baptist players to watch: Point guard Taylor Barnett, guard Maddie Peveto, guard Emmy Plezia, forward Victoria DeBerry, post Caroline Wallace, post Megan Milam, guard Savannah Wilkinson, post Aida Barakat.

• Episcopal players to watch: G Alex Burroughs, G Heidi Sihvola, G Dasia Batiste, G Diandra Breen, G Bria Goodman, P Annie Murchison, F Shannon Swisher, G Alysia Anderson, G Holly Thomas.

TEAM HIGHLIGHTS

• Second Baptist: The Eagles won three of four games to finish third at the Burnett Tournament, beating several Class 5A and 4A public schools to improve to 14-4. Second Baptist's lone loss was a 45-33 loss to host Burnet. Barnett, who averaged 19.5 points and four assists, and Peveto made the all-tournament team.

• Episcopal: The Knights swept Northland Christian 56-20 and Houston YES Prep-Southwest 49-28 to improve to 11-2 on the season. Episcopal relies on its guard play, with Burroughs and Sihvola, a foreign exchange student from Finland, setting the pace.