GAMES
RANKINGS
Leander and Georgetown face off in 5A Region IV Championship
Every team is taking it one pitch and one game at a time. A series victory this week means a road trip to Austin next week for the 2021 UIL State Softball Tournament.
Let's take a look at the 5A Region IV Championship.
LEANDER VS GEORGETOWN
SCHEDULE
Game 1: 1:00 pm Friday, May 28th at Concordia
Game 2: 1:00 pm Saturday, May 29th at Concordia
Game 3: 3:00 pm Saturday, May 29th at Concordia * If necessary
HOW LEANDER GOT HERE
- BI-DISTRICT: Def. Seguin
- AREA: Def. SA Southwest
- REGIONAL QUARTERS: Def. Medina Valley
- REGIONAL SEMIS: Def. CC Carroll
HOW GEORGETOWN GOT HERE
- BI-DISTRICT: Def. SA Johnson
- AREA: Def. Floresville
- REGIONAL QUARTERS: Def. New Braunfels Canyon
- REGIONAL SEMIS: Def. Victoria West
Leander has been the team to beat all season long, still claiming the No.1 ranking in the country. The Lions got back to their winning ways, run ruling CC Carroll in both of their games. Leander has never reached the state tournament and hopes to accomplish school history by the end of the weekend. A player to watch is outfielder Baylea Brandon who is signed with LSU.
On the other side, Georgetown beat Victoria West to reach the Regional Finals. This squad has found their stride as they are batting with a team average of .379, pitching a solid 2.14 team ERA. A player to watch is freshman pitcher Cambree Creager.
Leander and Georgetown are no strangers to each other. These District 25-5A rivals played twice this season already and Leander won both of those matchups 6-2 and 10-0 respectively. But anything can happen in the playoffs, especially when the teams know each other so well. Both teams have solid pitching and are fully capable of scoring a ton of runs.
PREDICTION: Leander advances winning the series 2-0
Georgetown Basketball Prepares for Lanier in Area Playoffs
The Georgetown Eagles are flying high this season. Under the direction of Coach David Canfield the Eagles have advanced to the second round of the UIL 5A Basketball Playoffs.
The Eagles won a share of the 25-5A District Title posting a 20-7 overall record and went 12-2 in League play. "I'm just so proud of this team," said Canfield. "We have had some tough losses this year but it's been good for us to learn to play through those tough games. We learn and grow from each game."
This season has been challenging to navigate through, between Covid-19 and last week's snowpocalypse that ravaged the state, but Canfield is proud of the way his guys have handled adversity. "I told our team at the beginning of the year that we will have to make sacrifices this season. We have a lot of seniors so they set the example for everyone else and the team handled everything really well."
Four years ago in Canfield's first season, the Eagles missed the playoffs. In year two the Eagles made the playoffs but lost in the first round. In year three Georgetown won their first playoff game but lost on a controversial buzzer-beater to Huntsville. Every year the Eagles have gone one step further in the playoffs and hope that trend continues. Canfield said, "It was a tough way to end last year and we believe our season ended too early. But our guys have been able to use that as motivation for this season."
Georgetown defeated a well-coached Alamo Heights team in the first round of the playoffs 65-42 and will face a Lanier team who upset McCollum in round one. Canfield said, "Lanier is gritty and play with a lot of passion. They are a very capable team."
Coach David Canfield knows this game and every game moving forward will be a battle but he believes in his team. "Ownership is one of our team pillars and our guys take ownership in the program. Every game when I talk to them at halftime I ask them what do you see out there? I want them to always be looking and seeing how we can attack and we can do better. That input is so valuable and I want them to see what's going on and make decisions. I trust them fully and they trust me."
The Georgetown Eagles have a tight-nit group with nine seniors on the team and a balanced attack on the court. Canfield said, "Any given night anyone can lead the team in scoring. If you take one guy away the next guy will step up and pick up the slack. Our guys have played together for a long time going all the way back to the Georgetown Dribblers. They know each other and love each other. We have an unselfish team that moves well without the basketball and are very versatile. Our post player Landry Woods leads the team in assistants... you don't see that very often!"
Players to watch for Georgetown are Aaron Bizzell, who leads the team in scoring, and Joseph Waring and Landry Woods.
The two teams are scheduled to tip-off Thursday, February 25 at 7:30 pm at Johnson High School.