Lady Cardinals win girls’ basketball title for 3rd time

ABILENE — Although Shiner St. Paul are accustomed to winning state titles, this particular trophy may look slightly different than the ones already in the trophy case.

The Lady Cardinals won the TAPPS 2A girls’ basketball championship on Friday, besting Muenster Sacred Heart 38-31 to win their first girls’ basketball title since 1999, their third in school history.

Before getting to the tile game, St. Paul took down Bryan St. Joseph in the state semifinal matchup 52-39.

Shiner St. Paul 52, Bryan St. Joseph 28

The Lady Cardinals opened up the first quarter with a 14-13 lead and continued to outscore Bryan St. Joseph each quarter, taking an 11-6 advantage in the second, 16-12 in the third and an 11-8 in the fourth to win by 13 points.

Gracey Novosad had a team high 11 points with two rebounds, three assists and three steals. Meanwhile, Christine Wagner had 10 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals off the bench. Delynn Pesek scored 10 points, grabbing three rebounds and one steal. Grace Irvin had nine points, five rebounds, one assist and a team-high four steals. Emma Morgan had six points, a team-high six rebounds, three assists and one steal.

Shiner St. Paul 38, Muenster Sacred Heart 31

Defense has been the key for Shiner St. Paul’s season and they proved it once again in the championship game as the Lady Cardinals took down Muenster Sacred Heart 38-31. Taking an early 8-6 lead, the Lady Cardinals added to it with an 11-5 second quarter to go up 19-11 by the half. Sacred Heart cut into the lead with a 13-8 third quarter but Shiner St. Paul was able to come away with the win with an 11-7 fourth quarter.

Leading the way was Emma Morgan who had 12 points, five rebounds, one assist and one steal. Delynn Pesek added eight points, seven rebounds and a steal to the stat sheet. Meanwhile, Christine Wagner had six points, two rebounds, one assist and two steals. The team totaled 10 steals in the game.