Photos: Margaret Croft leads Flour Bluff over Laredo Cigarroa in 5A Texas girls basketball playoffs

Margaret Croft scored 15 points to lead Flour Bluff to a 55-41 win over Laredo Cigarroa in the Region IV-5A girls basketball regional quarterfinals on Tuesday.

Clara Sandoval | Feb 23, 2022

Photos: Margaret Croft leads Flour Bluff over Laredo Cigarroa in 5A Texas girls basketball playoffs /

JOURDANTON, Texas - Margaret Croft scored 15 points to lead Flour Bluff to a 55-41 win over Laredo Cigarroa in the Region IV-5A girls basketball regional quarterfinals on Tuesday.

The Lady Hornets will move on to the Region IV-5A tournament where they will face Liberty Hill in the semi-regionals on Friday at 5 p.m. at North ISD Complex.

The Lady Hornets had nine different players score, led by Croft’s 15 points. Harlie Gallaspy and Katy Geurin both had nine points and were instrumental in Flour Bluff taking the early lead.

In the opening quarter it was Geurin and Cylie Wong who exploited Laredo Cigarroa’s late rotation on defense and dropped a pair of baskets each to give the Lady Hornets a 9-4 edge. Gallaspy and Nevaeh Lanter connected on a triple each while Lauren Fuller hit a basket as Flour Bluff built a 19-9 opening quarter lead.

Laredo Cigarroa’s Diane Lara, who has been the Lady Toros No. 1 offensive weapon all season long, went to work in the paint. She hit a pair of baskets in the opening quarter and never let Flour Bluff open the gap.

The Lady Hornets also got Laredo Cigarroa in foul trouble, sending three key starters to the bench early in the second half. The Lady Toros turned to their bench players who were able to weather the storm until the starting core returned.

Flour Bluff took a 20-12 lead on a basket by Croft with 5:04 remaining in the second quarter. On the ensuing play Laredo Cigarroa’s Angela Chavarria came down the court and connected on a 3-pointer to make it an eight-point game.

After trading baskets Lara was able to cut Flour Bluff's lead to 30-22 heading into halftime. Lara came out firing in the second half and made her presence felt with a long 3-pointer to make it a five-point game.

Croft helped Flour Bluff build some cushion and fend off Lara’s offensive output. Gallaspy and Wong also contributed on offense, but it was their defense that pressured the Laredo Cigarroa guards and kept them from establishing a consistent offensive flow.

After opening the second half with a triple, Lara hit three baskets in the paint. She scratched, clawed and sprung her way to the basket and on several occasions hauled down defensive rebounds to ignite Laredo Cigarroa’s transition offense.

Flour Bluff held a 42-35 lead heading into the final frame, and Laredo Cigarroa went cold in the fourth quarter, scoring just six points. The Lady Toros had no answer for the variety of offensive weapons Flour Bluff unleashed. Flour Bluff also wore down Laredo Cigarroa with their constant substitutions that kept fresh legs on the court.

The Lady Toros also got into early foul trouble and that played a major role in Laredo Cigarroa's game plan.