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Bailey Maupin leads Gruver past Stamford to seal unbeaten season, capture Texas 2A Girls Basketball State Championship

The senior guard and Texas Tech commit capped off an illustrious high school career with an authoritative double double to help Gruver become the seventh Texas state championship team to finish undefeated within the last decade

SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Little has stood in the way of Gruver or guard Bailey Maupin on the court this season.

Maupin, a star senior and Texas Tech basketball commit, and the Hounds remained virtually unstoppable in their final game together.

Maupin set the tone early through her tenacious play defensively, crashing the boards and by playing a pivotal role as her team’s leading scorer to lead Gruver to a commanding 50-38 win against Stamford in the UIL’s 2A Girls Basketball State Championship game on Saturday afternoon at the Alamodome.

The victory marked the Hounds’ second state title game win in the last three years and helped cement the squad’s perfect 31-0 record, making them one of only seven girls basketball teams throughout Texas to finish the season as an undefeated state champion within the last decade.

“With the schedule we played this year, undefeated was never even in the formula. … And to come out of those games (against Canyon, Nazareth and Brownfield), I think speaks volumes about these kids and the grittiness that they show throughout the year,” Gruver head coach Trent Lankford said.

“They never backed down from anything that was in their way. They just kept going forward, and that's what we kept talking about. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other, keep going forward, play for each other and they did that. And so with the schedule we played and to be undefeated, I don't know what to say about that because it's about these kids. They were awesome.”

PHOTOS: Gruver caps undefeated season with victory over Stamford in Texas 2A girls basketball championship

“We all know that they're a great team, they're undefeated for a reason. … We knew what we were going to face and we knew it would take a monumental effort on our part,” Stamford head coach Joe Crabb said.

“I thought we played really hard. We couldn't get some shots to draw, and overall, we could have hung with them. We had a chance and gave them a little scare I think in the second half. We kind of closed the gap just a little bit, but they handle their pressure really well, which is kind of what we can't rely on. They're a great team, hats off to them.”

Stamford traded blow for blow with Gruver in the early stages of the first half, but couldn’t limit Maupin’s impact for long.

The Red Raiders commit was seemingly everywhere at once, whether she was swiping loose balls away to spark a fastbreak, zipping a bullet pass to an open teammate on the 3-point line or blanketing an opponent with defensive pressure.

Maupin sank seven of 17 total shots from the floor, scoring a game-high 14 points while dishing out a pair of assists and playing lockdown defense on Stamford junior guard Laylonna Applin, who was held to nine points and four rebounds on 3-of-12 shooting.

“She's just a great player all around,” Applin said. “She put a lot of pressure on me. I mean, it was tough, but I think we handled it pretty well. But yeah, she's a very good defender.”

“She's a phenomenal athlete,” Crabbe said. “They're just well-coached and they play great defense and so it's very difficult to find any traction or any scoring opportunities. … To me, it wasn't that we did anything wrong, it was just more about how good a team they were defensively.”

Where she excelled most Saturday, though, was helping the Hounds overcome the size disadvantage they faced.

The 5-foot-10 guard corralled a game-high 14 rebounds and played a crucial role in racking up 17 offensive rebounds to fuel a second-chance point bonanza for Gruver that broke the game open for good during the second half.

“She draws a lot of attention because of her ability to score. She's got over 2,600-700 points in her career. But her defensive ability or just her IQ to be in the right spots, to be able to guard people that have varying abilities,” Lankford said.

“She's guarding post players and she's guarding point guards. It just all goes back to her IQ and her than her athleticism. You couple that together and it's just like she doesn't own both ends. I think she had 14 rebounds today. so she could do a little bit of everything. (Texas) Tech is getting a really, really good one.”

The defeat drops Stamford to 36-3 overall and snaps a 28-game winning streak stretching back to late November. The loss also brings the Dawgs’ first trip to the state tournament to an abrupt close and signifies the end of the most successful season in the program’s history.

“I think there's just a lot of little eyes watching us,” Stamford Tylee Jo Bevel said. I hope that, like we just said, we’ve left a winning legacy and that they will want to achieve something like this one day.”

With the win, the Hounds completed their journey back to the state championship while Maupin now moves on.

She’s set to graduate to a bigger stage at the next level but will remain in West Texas where she’s helped raise the bar at Gruver with more than 2,700 career points, multiple state championships and an undefeated season decorating a lengthy resume.

“I think it feels better,” Maupin said. “Yeah, it's our last time. Yeah. Second time. So you're going out being a senior and going out on a win. We did it. We completed the business trip that we came down here for.”

“I think if you look at the community support that was here, you look in the stands and see all the people that travel to watch these girls play, you see why they play so hard and you see why they do the things that they do because they do it for each other and they do it for the community,” Gruver head coach Trent Lankford said.

“Gruver is just not a town like most, they just travel better. … These kids love playing for Gruver and they love playing for each other, so it's a tremendous honor to get to coach them. It was a tremendous honor to win a state title with them today.”