Adhel Tac, South Grand Prairie surge past Summer Creek in 6A state semifinals

SAN ANTONIO, Texas — In a matchup between two of the state’s most experienced girls basketball squads, South Grand Prairie’s lone sophomore provided the pivotal difference.

Adhel Tac put on a display down low in one of the top performances of her young career.

The sophomore tallied a 21-point, 13-rebound double double in her state tournament debut to help the Warriors crush Humble Summer Creek in a 65-41 blowout 6A state semifinals win Friday night at the Alamodome.

“In the beginning, it was really just me getting into my flow and seeing how she was going to play me and how I would have to play it because they started off aggressive trying to push me out the paint and trying to keep me out the paint since they know that our offense is so big on going inside and out,” Tac said. 

“But after I started getting it going it was just like, she hasn't stopped me yet so why stop now? I just kept going.”

PHOTOS: South Grand Prairie downs Summer Creek 65-41 in Texas 6A Girls Basketball State Semifinals

“That’s a great team at South Grand Prairie,” Humble Summer Creek head coach Carlesa Dixon said. “We knew they were going to be physical when we came in. Their post player was pretty good, and I think they got us out of our game plan a little bit at the beginning of, and we just dug ourselves into a deep hole that we couldn't come out of.”

Tac and the Warriors controlled the game from the outset and seized momentum quickly. South Grand Prairie outscored Summer Creek 12-0 in the paint during the first quarter and ended the period on a 13-3 run.

The Bulldogs were not able to sink any shots close to the rim early nor stop the Warriors from feeding it inside defensively, which soon put them in a massive hole.

Summer Creek turned to a full-court man-to-man defense early in an effort to slow down South Grand Prairie’s dynamic backcourt, but it left Tac lots of space to operate in the paint offensively and gave the Warriors’ guards many opportunities to pass it down low.

“We try to get Adhel touches inside and that's a testament to our guards that they're willing to give it up because we have a lot of talented, athletic guards,” Raven said. “But I mean, Adhel can be unstoppable when she wants to be so that's a concept for us. Every game we try to establish that inside presence.”

“She's a big factor for our offense and we look for her most of the time,” senior guard Jahcelyn Hartfield said. “That just makes it easy on us.”

South Grand Prairie made its first state tournament appearance in school history last season thanks to its deep backcourt headlined by Jahcelyn Hartfield and Laila Jackson.

The Warriors, however, have since evolved from a sharpshooting squad that looked to exploit openings on the perimeter to an offense that can create scoring opportunities from the inside out.

“We shot the 3-balls so much last year, that was a critical part of our success. Well, this year, we're more inside-out and again, our guards bought into that. And, you know, Adhel, somebody who has size creates a gravity to where it pulls people in. The guards we had last year pulled people out, so now it's definitely a luxury.”

“It was more of a team effort because it wasn't always easy in the beginning of the year. And we had to work on it during practices and games too,” senior forward Kiara Ranson said. “We had to get used to feeding her because we knew she was our advantage, so we had to look for her in order to be successful.”

The Warriors never took their foot off the gas, as Tac’s 9-of-12 night shooting led the way offensively for SGP while freshman forward Taylor Barnes chipped in 12 points. Hartfield and senior forward Jenny Handley also scored nine and seven points, respectively, for South Grand Prairie.

The Warriors owned a commanding 35-12 advantage at halftime and led by as much as 30 during the fourth quarter.

Summer Creek junior center Jorynn Ross and star senior guard Kaitlyn Duhon each scored 11 points and combined for 13 rebounds. But the Bulldogs were held to 25.0% shooting and a 4-for-16 clip from behind the arc by a South Grand Prairie defense that generated 11 steals.

“They play really tight defense,” Dixon said. “I think it was more so the fact that when we did get some stops, we didn't convert on them at all. They have quick hands — active hands — got the hands in the passing lane, and they just really sped us up a little bit. We just weren't patient enough.”

The season-ending loss dropped the Bulldogs to 38-3 overall this season in their second trip to the 6A state tournament during the last four years. It also represented Summer Creek’s most lopsided loss on the hardwood since December 2020.

“Like I was telling Duhon in the middle line, this one game is not going to define her career. This one game is not going to define the season that we had,” Dixon said.

“Yes, it's very disappointing, but I am very, very proud of the many milestones that they have (reached) along the way. Yes, we wanted to win that one, but it just means we’ve got to get back in the gym. We've got more work to do, but I'm very proud of the season that they had.”

South Grand Prairie, meanwhile, moved to 35-4 on the year with the victory, the team’s 17th win in a row, and into the 6A state title game for the first time in school history.

The Warriors will face a familiar foe when they square off against DeSoto (34-2) in the UIL 6A Girls Basketball State Championship at 8:30 p.m. Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio. South Grand Prairie lost to the Eagles 63-52 in the 6A state semifinals last year.