Pflugerville Panther Basketball

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Team Ticker:

The following was posted on the Pflugerville ISD website on Feb. 5 prior to the Panthers victory over Austin Bowie HS Friday night which makes head coach Nancy Walling's squad 26-5 overall and 12-1 in District 25-5A with one final regular season game on tap.

Read the full article at: http://www.pflugervilleisd.net/news/index.cfm#souperbowl

The Pflugerville High School girls basketball team is having a winning season. The Lady Panthers are 25–5 overall and 11–1 in district play as of Feb. 6. However, basketball prowess may not be the team's most important contribution to the community this year. It may just be its philanthropic efforts.

On Feb. 2, the Lady Panthers conducted a "Souper Bowl of Caring" food drive, a nationwide effort sponsored by HEB and KXAN, to bring relief to communities. Donations collected by the Lady Panthers went directly to Storehouse Mission Food Pantry in Pflugerville.

"This is the second year for the girls to be involved in this effort," says Nancy Walling, coach of the Lady Panthers. "We'd like to give a huge thank you to the Akins Lady Eagles basketball team for participating, to our teachers for letting the girls promote their efforts in the classroom and to Cathy Booker for helping to get it all organized." Booker is the mother of Jasmyn Booker, one of the members of the Panthers team.

But the girls' giving doesn't stop there. On Feb. 9, the Lady Panthers will take on the Connally High School Lady Cougars, 24-8 (10-2), in the final district game, which could decide the district championship. In an effort to raise cancer awareness, they are encouraging everyone to wear pink.

"This is a great time for our players to raise money for a worthy cause. So many people are affected by cancer everyday, so it is very gratifying to join forces with Pflugerville High and do our part to raise awareness and help those who are constantly working to find a cure," says Laura Zouzalik, CHS Lady Cougars coach.

"Even though we're playing against each other, we're actually teaming up," says Walling. "We'll be playing each other in a "Pink Zone" game and are inviting all cancer survivors to be our special guests. We will be handing out carnations for them to wear during the game."

The "Pink Zone" was created by the Women's Basketball Coaches of America (WBCA) in 2007 as a global, unified effort to raise breast cancer awareness on the court, across campuses, in communities and beyond.

"Both teams will have pink warm up shirts and PHS will be in pink uniforms donated to the school. We're selling ribbons for $1 to be on display in honor of all those that have had or now have cancer. The proceeds will benefit the Kay Yow Cancer Fund," Walling says. Yow was the North Carolina State University head women's basketball coach. She died of breast cancer last year after battling the disease for over 20 years. All donations to the Kay Yow Cancer Fund go toward a cure for all women's cancers.

AUSTIN, Texas -- State-ranked Pflugerville rolled to a 73-27 victory over Bowie HS Friday night in a road contest which saw three Panthers reach double-figure scoring, led by a game-high 16 points from junior post Nneka Enemkpali (pictured). The win pushes Pflugerville to 26-5 overall and puts the District 25-5A leaders at 12-1 in league action heading into the regular season finale on Tuesdy, Feb. 9. The Panthers will host cross-town District foe Connally in that 7:30 p.m. regular season finale on "Pink Zone Night" at the Panther Gym. The WBCA Pink Zone® initiative is a global, unified effort for the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's (WBCA) nation of coaches to assist in raising breast cancer awareness on the court, across campuses, in communities and beyond. All fans are asked to wear pink to the game and donate to the cause by purchasing special pink ribbons for $1 at the gate.

Entering Friday's games, Pflugerville held a a one-game lead over both Connally and Westlake. A win Tuesday gives the Panthers the District title outright and will give head coach Nancy Walling's squad their second 25-5A title in as many years (P'ville joined 25-5A last year).

In the game against Bowie, the Panthers cruised to a 23-7 lead after one quarter before extending the their lead to 27 points (39-12) at halftime. Bowie is now 2-21 overall, 1-12 in the district.

Joining Enemkpali as the stat leaders were senior forward Christie Mooney who chipped in with 12 points and four steals, along with junior guard Curtiesha Woods (11 points). Panther junior forward Adesuwa Ebomwonyi pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds to go with nine points, while sophomore forward Itiana Taylor (five points) had a game-best five steals.

Pflugerville JV, Freshmen "A" and "B" teams continue their victorious ways

The Panther JV squad and freshmen "A" teams both improved to a sparkling 28-1 with victories over Bowie Friday night, while the freshmen "B" squad moved to 9-5 with their win over the Bulldogs.

The JV game saw Pflugerville post another strong defensive game as coach April Ellickson's Panthers won, 65-30. Freshman forward Amy Staha notched a game-high 15 points, while freshman guard Tayliah Brooks added 13 points and sophomore guard Jasmine Brooks scored 10.

Coach Patrick Hinson's freshmen A (Gold) squad easily out-distanced the Bulldogs, 77-20, as all seven Panther players scored. Point guard Taylor Ross netted a game-high 24 points and was followed by Brenisha Payne (16 points), Destini Oakmon (13) and Raven Swain (10).

Coach Tamara Sansome's freshmen B team picked up its ninth win with a 44-22 decision over their Bowie counterparts. Amber Harris (15 points) and Dawson King (13) were top scorers for the Panthers.

PFLUGERVILLE, Texas -- Led by five in double-figure scoring, including game-highs of 18 points and nine rebounds from junior forward Adesuwa Ebomwonyi (pictured) and 16 points from junior post Nneka Enemkpali, the state-ranked Pflugerville Panthers recorded a 79-50 victory over District opponent Akins Tuesday at Panther Gym. The victory pushes the Panthers to 25-5 overall as Pflugerville remains the District 25-5A leader at 11-1. The win also was the 500th career victory for head coach Nancy Walling. Walling, whose all-time high school head coaching record is now 500-237 (.679). Walling, third in voting last year for 2009 WBCA National Coach of the Year honors and who coached in the WBCA/Nike High School All-America Game at the Women's Final Four in St. Louis, is in her 21st year as Panther head coach and in her 23rd year overall.

AUSTIN, Texas -- Led by a game-high 20 points and five steals from sophomore forward Itiana Taylor (pictured) and a 13-point, game-high 16 rebound and five steal performance by junior forward Adesuwa Ebomwonyi, No. 9 state-ranked Pflugerville posted a 79-38 win over Austin High in District 25-5A play Friday night at Austin HS. The win moves the Panthers to 24-5 overall and to 10-1 in the District. The Panthers made their big run in the second quarter, turning a 22-11 first-quarter into a 38-15 edge at intermission, thanks to stingy defense and a 14-4 run in the second period.

Head coach Nancy Walling's Panthers held Austin to 23.4 percent shooting accuracy as the Maroon connected on 11 of 47 attempted field goals. Pflugerville shot 45.3 percent from the floor (29-64) and was 16-for-24 from the foul line. Pflugerville dominated on the boards, out-rebounding the Maroon 44-25. The Panthers forced 26 Austin High turnovers and had 19 steals.

The Panthers led by 11 (22-11) after the first eight minutes behind Ebomwonyi who pulled down eight rebounds and had three steals in the opening period. Pflugerville forced Austin into seven turnovers in the first quarter as P'ville had five steals and hit seven of 17 field goals.

The first half was marked by an appearance by All-State junior post Nneka Enemkpali who made her first showing of the season after spending the last 11 months rehabbing from an ACL knee injury which happened during the Panthers' 2009 State 5A tournament final four semifinal game on March 6. Enemkpali stepped onto the hardwood with 5:27 left in the first quarter, and was met with a standing ovation from the PHS fans and her teammates as she entered the game. Playing a total of nine minutes, Enemkpali finished with six points and a rebound.

The Panthers extended their lead to 60-30 after three periods behind the play of Taylor, Ebomwonyi and senior forward Christie Mooney and a tough defensive presence. Mooney finished with 10 points and three steals.

Junior forward Shoneice Yett came off the bench and chipped in with six points and a season-high seven rebounds while sophomore point guard Jasmyn Booker scored eight points, including two 3-pointers, one of them a half-court shot at the buzzer before intermission. Starting point guard Curtiesha Woods (five points) had a game-high five assists.

Pflugerville returns to action on Tuesday, Feb. 2, hosting Akins HS in a 7:30 p.m. District game at Panther Gym. The night is "Souper Bowl of Caring Night" as Pflugerville and Akins join the nation-wide movement to support the movement against hunger in our nation. All fans are asked to bring canned goods or non-perishable items to donate to the Pflugerville Food Pantry.

Panthers pick up three more wins against Austin HS on Friday

Strong defensive play was evident all night long at Austin High School Friday as the Pflugerville junior varsity, freshmen "A" and freshman "B" squads all recorded victories. The Panther JV, led by 15 points from freshman forward Jonelle Smith and 13 apiece from freshman post Diana Omozee and sophomore guard Jasmine Brooks, earned a 77-13 victory. The JV is now 26-1 and stands undefeated (11-0) in District 25-5A competition.

The P'ville freshmen "A" team won by a 77-18 score, as they also improved to a sparkling 26-1 overall and to 11-0 in district play. The Panthers were paced by Brenisha Payne (17 points), Mackenzie Browning (14 pints) and Destini Oakmon (11 points).

The Panther freshman "B" squad earned a 27-15 win over the Maroon to move to 8-5 on the season. Amber Harris notched a game-high 15 points in the win.

All three teams are in action Tuesday (Feb. 2) at home against Akins. The freshmen "A" game is at 5:15 p.m., followed by the JV contest (6 p.m.) and the freshmen "B" game (6:30 p.m.).

PFLUGERVILLE, Texas -- The state-ranked Pflugerville Panthers pulled away with a 48-18 scoring surge in the second and third quarters en route to a 77-48 victory over Anderson in District 25-5A Tuesday night at the Panther Gym. The Panthers enjoyed their best shooting night of the season, hitting 57.1 percent of their shots by connecting on 28 of 49 attempted field goals. In this week's state 5A polls, Pflugerville is ranked No. 9 (Texas Girls Coaches Association) and No. 15 (TABC/Tex Preps Basketball Magazine).

AUSTIN, Texas -- Despite a dramatic comeback with a three-pointer to send the game into overtime, the state-ranked Pflugerville Panthers could not sustain the momentum in the extra four-minute period and dropped their first District game of the year, 56-50, to Westlake at Westlake HS Friday night. P'ville is now 22-5 overall. The loss snaps the Panthers' six-game win streak and puts Pflugerville in a tie atop the District standings (at 8-1) with Pflugerville Connally. Westlake (22-6) trails by one game in the District with a 7-2 mark.

PFLUGERVILLE, Texas -- Led by game-highs of 20 points and 11 rebounds from junior forward Adesuwa Ebomwonyi (pictured) and two others in double-figure scoring, the state-ranked Pflugerville varsity posted a 72-47 win over Bastrop Tuesday in District 25-5A action. Joining Ebomwonyi in double-figure scoring were senior forward Christie Mooney (18 points) and sophomore forward Itiana Taylor (14 points). Mooney and Taylor each collected five steals as the Panthers moved to 22-4 overall and remain atop the District standings at 8-0.

From the Austin American-Statesman (www.statesman.com) on Friday, Jan. 15, 2010

Enemkpali expected to return soon
By Danny Davis | Friday, January 15, 2010

Pflugerville junior post Nneka Enemkpali has been cleared to play by doctors and Pflugerville head coach Nancy Walling said in an e-mail on Friday that the Panthers will “start working her into games within the next couple of weeks.”

Enemkpali hasn’t played since injuring her ACL in Pflugerville’s 2009 state tournament semifinal loss to Houston Nimitz last March.

Last season, the six-foot-one-inch Enemkpali was a first team All-Central Texas selection and first team All-State performer who averaged 13.1 points, 11.1 rebounds and 3.4 blocks per game. A Texas commit, Enemkpali is also a track and volleyball standout.

Pflugerville has fared well this season without Enemkpali in the line-up. Pflugerville is 20-4 [21-4 now after Friday night's win over Connally HS] and was ranked first in this week’s American-Statesman basketball poll.

PFLUGERVILLE, Texas -- The No. 16 state-ranked Pflugerville varsity registered a key 70-49 away game win over cross-town rival and District opponent Connally HS on Friday evening, as the two squads had entered the game tied atop the District 25-A standings. The win moves the Panthers to 21-4 and keeps Pflugerville undefeated (at 7-0) in District action. Connally is now 16-7 overall and suffered its first District loss (6-1), dropping out of a tie for first with the Panthers. The balanced Pflugerville attack saw four players in double-figure scoring.