Boerne gets revenge, beats Fredericksburg to punch ticket to 4A UIL Girls Basketball State Tournament

KINGSVILLE, Texas — Boerne was on a year-long mission. 

Last season, the Lady Greyhounds fell to the Fredericksburg Lady Billies by one point in the regional championship game at the Region IV-4A Tournament. That postseason loss a year ago has fueled Boerne ever since.

The Lady Greyhounds were able to avenge that loss Saturday afternoon, taking down Fredericksburg 49-40 in the regional finals to win the Region IV-4A Tournament at the Steinke Center and extend their 24-game winning streak in the process.

With the victory, Boerne punches its ticket to Class 4A UIL Girls Basketball State Tournament for the first time since the 2020-21 season, when the Lady Greyhounds beat the Lady Billies 56-51 to advance to the state tournament.

[2023 Texas (UIL) Class 4A Girls Basketball Region 3 and 4]

“We are super excited heading to state,” Boerne head coach Amy Ruede said. “This group has been talking about it for a long time after last year’s loss here. Our goal all year was to earn a spot at the state tournament.”

Borne (35-1) came into Saturday's regional finals matchup as the No. 2 ranked 4A team across the state by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches, while Fredericksburg (30-5) held the No. 6 spot in the TGCA rankings.

The Lady Greyhounds and Billies were facing off for the third time this season after battling each other twice during district play in District 27-4A. Boerne picked up a 46-34 victory and a 45-38 win over Fredericksburg in their prior meetings this season.

“I was really proud of us and we came in about having a faceless opponent all year,” Ruede said. “We knew that we were playing them for the third time and it is always hard to beat, especially a good team like Fredericksburg three times.”

Boerne was able to set the tone early on and fend off a few runs by Fredericksburg to close the gap. After the Lady Greyhounds opened with a 6-3 run, the Battlin’ Lady Billies, led by Ella Hartman took a 13-8 lead. Hartman finished with 10 points including a pair of triple.

The Lady Greyhounds fought back with Averi Aaron and Jamie Ruede who are Boerne’s 1-2 punch on offense. Aaron finished with 17 points and Ruede tallied 11 points.

“I thought that our kids did a really good job of not letting them….we knew that they were going to make plays and go on runs and we were going to have to sustain them,” Ruede said. “ I thought that the kids did a really good job. Overcame a lot of adversity in the game. Mistakes that we made and they just kept playing for the next play and played for each other and that is what they have been doing all year.”

Boerne started to open up the gap on Fredericksburg after opening the second quarter with a 8-0 run. Ruede and Abigail Smith hit back to back triples. On the ensuing trip down the court, Ruede hit a layup as Boerne led 20-13 at the 5:26 mark.

Fredericksburg’s Paige Kuhlmann cut down Boerne’s led with a triple only to have Boerne go on a 5-0 run with Ruede hitting her second and final triple of the game.

Boerne was able to control the boards with Aaron who limited the Battlin’ Lady Billies to one shot and on the other end of the floor fought for offensive rebounds. Fredericksburg had no answer for Aaron who utilized her 6 foot 1 frame to her advantage.

When Borne was not busy hitting from the perimeter, especially the 3 point line, the Lady Greyhounds looked for Aaron in the paint.

The Battlin’ Lady Billies turned to the free throw line to start reeling in Boerne. In the final 1:42 second of the first half, Fredericksburg went 6 for 6 from the freethrow line to make it a 25-23 ball game with 12.6 second left in the first half.

Boerne was able to get one final shot with less than a second left after finding Aaron on the block and she hit a basket with time expiring to take a 27-23 halftime lead.

In the second half Fredersburg came up with a basket in the third quarter as Minot Frantzen made it a 29-27 ball game on a layup with 3:20 left but Boerne kept pulling away the rest of the game. 

Boerne (32-1) will return to action when the Lady Greyhounds take the court for the Class 4A UIL Girls Basketball State Tournament at 1:30 or 3 p.m. on Friday, March 3, at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

Check out SBLive's exclusive photo gallery from the game:

PHOTO GALLERY — BOERNE 49, FREDERICKSBURG 40

All photos by Clara Sandoval