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Duncanville girls move on, oust Plano East

MESQUITE — Duncanville had hardly played its best basketball with three minutes remaining in its Class 5A area-round playoff matchup with Plano East on Friday. Yet Duncanville still found itself protecting a six-point lead.

All the District 5-5A champion had to do to hold that lead was hit its free throws the rest of the way.

And despite having missed 10 of 15 free throws to that point, Duncanville made 12 of its final 14 to beat Plano East going away, 48-35.

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“We do pressure free throw drills,” Duncanville coach Cathy Self-Morgan said with a laugh. “I think they need the pressure.”

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Duncanville, ranked 12th in the state in 5A, advanced to face 21st-ranked Southlake Carroll in the regional quarterfinals.

Duncanville’s subpar free throw shooting helped Plano East grab control of the game in the second quarter with a 9-0 run. But a layup followed by a 3-pointer from freshman Ariel Atkins gave Duncanville an 18-16 halftime lead.

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Then Self-Morgan unleashed a suffocating press and halfcourt trap that East was never able to adjust to. Two free throws by East’s Celina Eddins cut the lead to 34-30 with about four minutes to play, but East struggled to set up its offense after that.

“When we work together and rotate right, we have very good defense,” Duncanville senior Bunny Williams said. “And it’s hard to stop us.”

Williams and Miranda Grier led Duncanville with 10, while Jordan Goforth of East had a game-high 11 points.