High school girls basketball: Top-ranked Lincoln wins to set up marquee regional semifinal

CARROLLTON — Freshman Lanae Dallas scored 10 of her team-high 16 points in the first half and Jada Patterson added a double-double as top-ranked Lincoln advanced to the Class 4A Division II Region II semifinals with a 57-44 win over Frisco Panther Creek on Friday night at Carrollton Newman Smith.

Lincoln (35-2) will next face Sunnyvale, ranked No. 7 in the state, and it will be the third straight season they have met in the third round of the playoffs. Sunnyvale won 52-41 in 2023 and went on to finish as the 4A state runner-up, and Lincoln won 46-40 last year on its way to a state semifinal appearance.

Lincoln also got 14 points from all-state guard Grace Spencer while Patterson scored 13 and pulled down 10 rebounds.

After Lincoln had just three points midway through the first period, Spencer scored eight points in the final three minutes of the quarter as Lincoln took a 13-7 lead. Dallas had nine points in the second quarter when Lincoln opened up a double-digit lead on the way to a 29-14 halftime advantage.

Panther Creek (23-7) got 19 points, including four 3-pointers, from junior Jaeda Wade in a losing effort.

DeSoto 57, Wylie East 47: DeSoto outscored Wylie East 38-20 in the second half, including 20-10 in the fourth quarter, and rallied to win the 6A Division II area-round playoff game.

After finishing fourth in District 11-6A, DeSoto (20-16) overcame a 27-19 halftime deficit and reached at least the third round of the playoffs for the seventh straight year. That streak included winning state titles in 2021 and 2022 and finishing as the state runner-up in 2019 and 2023.

Sophomore Angel Lynch led DeSoto with 17 points and sophomore Ava Womack scored 15. Wylie East got 15 points from Saliz Ward and 14 from Morgan Jennings.

Waiting for DeSoto in the Region II semifinals will be Cypress Springs, ranked No. 3 in the state. Five-star South Carolina signee and McDonald’s All-American Ayla McDowell from Cypress Springs is rated the second-best player in Texas and the 22nd-best recruit in the nation in the Class of 2025, and the 6-2 wing is averaging 24.9 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists.

DeSoto has had to rebuild under new head coach Jeffery Chatman after losing its top seven players from last season’s regional finalist team. DeSoto lost four nationally ranked recruits in the Class of 2026 when Amari Byles and Amayah Garcia transferred to Oak Cliff Faith Family and Kamora Pruitt and Rieyan DeSouze transferred to Legion Prep Academy.

Lancaster 65, Longview 41: Savanna Barnes scored 20 points and MaKenzie White added 14 as the state’s fourth-ranked team advanced to the third round of the playoffs for the first time since 2020.

Next up for Lancaster (25-5) will be a 6A Division II Region II semifinal against Conroe Grand Oaks, ranked No. 14 in the state. Lancaster has won 12 in a row and beat defending 6A state champion Duncanville and state No. 10-ranked Cedar Hill during the winning streak.

Lancaster led by just two after the first quarter and was up 27-22 at halftime. It turned the game into a rout by outscoring Longview 18-2 in the third quarter to build a 45-24 advantage.

Lancaster has never reached the state semifinals, but it’s now two wins away under a new head coach who has plenty of experience winning state titles. LaJeanna Howard won the 6A state title as Duncanville’s head coach in 2020, and she also won state championships at that school as a player (2003) and assistant coach (2016).

Denton Braswell 90, Richardson Pearce 34: Dara Itata scored 21 points and Braswell got double-doubles from Amaya McDonald and Makayla Vation in its second-round playoff rout.

McDonald had 20 points and 11 rebounds for the state’s sixth-ranked 6A team and Vation finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds. The game was decided early, as Braswell (34-2) opened the game on a 24-7 run and led 47-14 at halftime en route to its ninth straight victory.

Braswell will face perhaps its toughest challenge of the season in next week’s 6A Division II Region I semifinal, as it will play Fort Worth Boswell (35-2), ranked No. 2 in the state and No. 19 in the nation (per MaxPreps). Boswell was a regional finalist last season and Braswell reached that round in 2022, with both losing to South Grand Prairie.

Denton Guyer 72, Arlington Lamar 34: Brae’a Dozier’s 12 points paced three players in double figures as Guyer easily moved on to the 6A Division II Region I semifinals.

Destanie Green added 11 points for Guyer (31-4), ranked No. 11 in the state, and Madison McGhie scored 10 points. Next up is a matchup with Wolfforth Frenship, the state’s 13th-ranked team.

Keller Timber Creek 56, El Paso Franklin 40: Jillian Topping scored 24 points and Krisi Willis finished with 12 to help Timber Creek reach the third round of the playoffs for the first time since 2021.

Timber Creek (24-10), which finished third in District 4-6A, advanced to play Plano East in a 6A Division I Region I semifinal at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Lewisville. Plano East, the third-place team from District 6-6A, is coming off Thursday’s stunning 48-44 win over South Grand Prairie, ranked seventh in the state and last year’s Class 6A state runner-up.

Frisco Memorial 44, Lovejoy 35: Frisco Memorial, ranked No. 6 in the state in 5A, overcame a seven-point halftime deficit and outscored Lovejoy 17-4 in the fourth quarter in the 5A Division II area-round game.

Makayla Ellison led Memorial with nine points and Sydney Murphy and Payton Jones scored eight apiece.

Frisco Memorial (31-7) has won 14 in a row and reached at least the third round of the playoffs for the fourth time in five years. It made the fourth round in 2023 and was the 5A state runner-up in 2022.

Frisco Heritage 39, Melissa 37: Jadyn Middleton’s 16 points helped Heritage hold off Melissa in a 5A Division I area-round game that went down to the wire.

Madison Ravin scored 10 points for Heritage as it reached the third round of the playoffs for the first time since 2013. It will face Red Oak in the Region II semifinals.

Red Oak 56, W.T. White 34: Red Oak is moving on to the third round of the playoffs for the sixth time in seven years, a run that included reaching the fourth round four straight years from 2019 to 2022. Red Oak (22-11) needs two more wins to qualify for the state semifinals for the first time since 1977, when it was a 2A school.