Logan takes title

TEXICO - Two years, a pandemic and a change of venue. But the Logan Longhorns were back like they never left.

The defending champion Longhorns made it two straight titles in the Eastern Plains Athletic Conference girls bracket, using a series of timely runs to outlast top-seeded Fort Sumner 42-36 Saturday night at the Texico Sports Arena.

Kyra Conway had 19 points to lead all scorers, including five points in a 9-0 Logan run that bridged the third and fourth quarters and gave the Longhorns the lead for good. Freshman Desla Rose added 15 for the Longhorns (10-3).

Logan claimed the title for the second time in three years, but the win counts as a back-to-back with the 2021 tournament canceled for COVID-19 concerns. It is the third EPAC title in the program's history, including its win the first time a girls tournament was played in 1976. The boys EPAC tournament started in 1958.

"I missed all of the competition we had and the competitiveness all the teams bring," said Conway, who put the Longhorns up 37-32 with an open layup created off a fake dribble handoff. "I really like EPAC because it gets us started for the season. It shows us what we can do. Without it, it's hard to go right into district play."

Logan recovered from a 13-of-44 night from the field by going 13-of-19 from the line and getting three timely 3-pointers. Two came as buzzer beaters; Rose hit one to end the first quarter and start a personal 7-0 burst that pushed Logan to an early 13-8 advantage, and Conway's closed out the third quarter for a 34-32 lead the Longhorns would never relinquish.

"We've got some good 3-point shooters," said Logan coach Glynna Strand, who credited her team with late-game poise. "It's just that the defense has been so tough in this tournament. Not many 3s on the girls side had gone up. It was fantastic we were able to get some 3-pointers off."

The Vixens, who fell to 9-2, were never out of the game. But they struggled late, scoring just four in the fourth and going a stretch of 8:35 without a field goal.

"We didn't finish the second quarter well and they made that little run (9-2 Logan over the final 2:26), and you know what happened in the fourth," Segura said. "There's a whole lot of season left. Our young kids are going to grow up, and we needed a game like this. We're going to get healthier and stronger. We're at a point where we just want to continue to improve weekly and play our best ball when it matters."

Seven of the last 10 EPAC girls champs reached their state title game, and six of them took home the blue trophy. That's a bonus in the eyes of Conway, who has been optimistic but in a cautious way so far.

"I'm not going to lie," Conway said. "I believed we could do it, but we have a lot of young girls and their confidence comes down (in some situations). But we've had (alumni) working with us a lot, and it's brought a lot of confidence to them."