HS girls basketball: Memorial rolls past Morton Ranch

The Memorial Lady Mustangs kicked off the second half of district play Tuesday night with a convincing win over the Morton Ranch Lady Mavericks.

A stifling defense and deliberate offense led to a 39-12 win for the Lady Mustangs, as they remain atop the district 19-5A standings with a 6-1 record.

"I thought we played our best defensive game of the season," Memorial coach Jyusef Larry said. "Typically, defenses tend to get weaker as the offense gets deeper into the possession.  Tonight, I feel as though we grew stronger the longer we had to defend each possession.  I've never seen that before and it shows how committed the girls are to being great defensively."

In what could be described as a very efficient effort, Memorial came out and set the tone on defense, allowing Morton Ranch 4 points for the entire first half.

On offense, the Lady Mustangs patiently worked the ball around and took advantage of Ellen Anderson’s hot hand and Madison Miller’s drives to the basket to build a 15-4 halftime lead that grew to 26-10 after three periods.

Memorial, for the first time this season, shot over 50% from the field for the game, helped by hitting 11 of 17 shots in the second half, as the Lady Mustangs continually worked for the good shot all night.

Anderson led Memorial with 13 points, followed by Miller with 12. Anderson also led the team with 5 rebounds for the evening.

The schedule gets tougher for the Lady Mustangs as they entertain an improved Mayde Creek team Friday night before going to Cinco Ranch and Katy Taylor next week in games that will likely go a long way in deciding playoff seeds.