ALAMODOME, San Antonio – Boerne battled until the very end. Their efforts just weren’t quite enough to secure their first win in the UIL State tournament.
Sophomore Jenna Ruede and junior Averi Aaron each posted a team-high 14 points, but the Greyhounds couldn’t quite get over the hump in the second half of a hard-fought 49-47 loss to Sunnyvale in the UIL Class 4A State semifinals in the Alamodome on Friday afternoon. Boerne finishes their remarkable season with a 35-2 overall record.
Both teams traded the lead throughout the first quarter. After Sunnyvale senior Micah Russell hit a three-pointer with 28 seconds left on the clock, Jenna Ruede answered with a free-throw line jumper that sent Boerne into the second quarter trailing 11-10. She hit another three-ball in the second frame, and Aaron scored her first points of the contest with a layup and a pair of free throws to keep pace with the Lady Raiders, but Russell broke a 17-17 tie late in the first half with another triple, and the Greyhounds entered the break trailing 20-17.
Junior Abby Smith scored the first basket of the second half and Aaron followed that up with another layin to give Boerne a 21-20 advantage. But Russell capped a 9-0 Sunnyvale run with yet another three-pointer, and the Lady Raiders took their largest lead of the contest up 29-21. Boerne wasn’t done fighting. Jamie Ruede came up with a clutch steal and finished on the other end with a layin before the buzzer sounded, and the Greyhounds trailed 30-25 entering the final minutes of regulation.
FINAL: Sunnyvale 49, Boerne 47 - an unforgettable season for @BHSHoundBball comes up just short in the #UILState Class 4A semis - here's some of the biggest plays from an epic game in the Alamodome! #KSATsports #KSATbgc @LeechStan @Boernehs @BoerneISD @JennaRuede @RuedeJamie pic.twitter.com/SfvN0owj0j
— Andrew Cely (@ACelySports) March 3, 2023
The seesaw nature of the game continued throughout the early stages of the fourth quarter, until Jenna struck again, this time forcing a steal, drawing contact and getting a layup to fall for a traditional three-point play that made it a two-point game with 1:16 left in regulation. After Russell knocked down a pair of free throws, Aaron put the pressure on the Lady Raiders with another layin. Unfortunately, Russell didn’t blink, finishing six-of-eight from the charity stripe in the final 56 seconds. She posted a game-high 28 points on 7-of-13 shooting. A pair of three-pointers from Jamie Ruede kept the Greyhounds in it until the end, but ultimately, the deficit proved too much to overcome.
This marks Boerne’s second trip to the UIL State tournament in the past three seasons and their first ever appearance in the Alamodome. Three seniors -- Jamie Ruede, Elizabeth Fox and Sushanna Cobb -- bid farewell to the program.