Sachse junior Arianna Gregory, right, jumps in the air for a layup attempt while being defended by North Garland junior Kamiya Latimore during a District 9-6A girls basketball game on Tuesday, Jan. 21. Gregory scored 15 points. Sachse defeated North Garland 44-17. Photo by Tina Lopez / C&S Media
By David Wolman
Despite missing two starters and its back-up point guard, the Sachse girls’ basketball team didn’t miss a beat in a dominant 44-17 triumph over North Garland on Tuesday, Jan. 21.
The Lady Mustangs (27-5 overall, 12-0 District 9-6A), ranked No. 14 in the latest Texas Association of Basketball Coaches Class 6A state poll, were playing without starting freshman point guard Trinity Thompson (ankle (injury), senior guard Camille Logan (illness) and senior back-up point guard Danica Mendoza (torn ACL).
Mendoza is out of the remainder of the season. Thompson is scheduled to return to the team in three weeks.
Injuries and all, Sachse head coach Donna McCullough has said all season that “our depth is our strength.”
The depth of the Lady Mustangs was again evident last week.
With Sachse’s top two point guards unable to play, junior Addison Hodge handled the point-guard duties for the Lady Mustangs against the Lady Raiders. She scored just two points but provided a sense of calm for the Lady Mustangs when she was on the court. She also helped to lead a patient offensive attack against the Lady Raiders’ zone defense.
“She’s been a point guard in our program, but we haven’t played her because we have the other ones in front of her,” McCullough said. “She is comfortable in the point guard spot. She’s played point guard on our freshman and JV teams, but she’s clearly capable.”
Regarding Sachse’s patience on offense, “We were patient,” McCullough said. “We took a number of difference passes and trying to make them work their defense and make a mistake. That’s the key when you’re playing against a zone, to reverse the ball and force them to make a mistake. I thought that we did a good job of that, especially in the first half.”
Every time that Sachse needed a basket, junior forward Arianna Gregory came through in the clutch. She was a force around the basket. In the first quarter alone, she scored six of her team’s 13 points, including a perfect four-of-four at the free-throw line. She finished the game with 15 points.
“She’s impressive,” McCullough said of Gregory. “Her ability to make a move on the inside and spin, drop step, whatever, against those people, even she is not the biggest player out there, is amazing.”
Sachse senior Charish Thompson poured in 10 points, two coming on a 3-pointer with 2:39 left in the second quarter to increase the Lady Mustangs’ lead to 26-1.
Defensively, Sachse was focused from the opening tip until the final buzzer. The Lady Mustangs forced 26 turnovers on the night and held the Lady Raiders to just one point in the first half — a free throw with 7:49 remaining in the second quarter.
“We did a good job of forcing them to take some off-balanced shots, which allowed us to get out in transition,” McCullough said.
For more on this story see the January 30, 2025 print, or digital edition of The Sachse News. Subscribe today and support local journalism in your community.
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