Jacy Abii, Frisco Liberty end Mansfield Timberview's streak in Texas (UIL) state girls basketball title
SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Usually Ross Reedy isn’t a big fan when Jacy Abii takes a deep 3-pointers.
However, the Frisco Liberty head coach didn’t mind on Saturday.
Abii hit a pair of treys in a pivotal third quarter, setting the stage for a 60-51 victory over Mansfield Timberview on Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
The victory allowed the Redhawks to win a second straight 6A title and the third since 2020.
Abii, the ninth-best sophomore in the nation (ESPN), was the most valuable player of the game behind a 30-point, 12-rebound effort.
“She’s been taking deep 3s all year and I’ve been going ‘oh my gosh, terrible shot; bad shot’ and she always loves that,” Reedy said in the postgame press conference. “And today, she took one and I was like ‘keep doing it.’ Obviously, you need big-time players in big-time situations to take over in big-time moments and you see that.”
The defending state champions were down 29-22 at halftime and quickly in the third, the Timberwolves (40-2) expanded the lead to 12 points on a 3-pointer from Crishawn Coleman.
Then, Abii made a 3-pointer and a layup to keep Liberty (34-7) hanging around.
Later in the quarter, a second 3-pointer pulled the once-12-point deficit down to six points with 2:45 to play.
A free throw with 23 seconds left in the third helped the Redhawks pull with 47-44 going into the fourth.
The deficit wouldn’t stay around much longer as the super sophomore just kept on scoring and if she didn’t she played a part in Liberty’s scoring.
Frisco Liberty celebrates its repeat UIL Class 5A state title, which it won on Saturday over Mansfield Timberview, 60-51.
Photo by Tommy Hays, SBLive Sports
Back-to-back baskets in the paint forged a tie at 48.
Liberty took the lead for good on an assist by Abii, who dished out to Aziyah Farrier, who drained the 3-pointer right in front of the Redhawks’ bench.
Up 51-48, the Redhawks never trailed again.
“She’s an extremely talented kid, but she’s also huge,” Timberview coach Kit Kyle Martin said. “I mean, she’s big on the glass and can take a 3 from way downtown. She can take you to the rack and she can push you can push you up. She’s an all-around skilled offensive player that’s difficult to stop. I think she’s a tough, tough kid. She’s going to be a great college player one day.”
Martin would know a thing or two about that.
She played at North Texas and later served as an assistant at Stephen F. Austin and Arkansas before returning to Texas to coach at the prep ranks.
Liberty held Timberview — which had a 37-game winning streak heading into the game — to 1-for-20 from the field in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, Abii hit 3 of 5 shots from the field.
When the two teams met in November, she had 3 points total in a loss.
She wasn’t going to let that happen again.
“I just had to breathe and think to myself, if I got out there and leave it all on the court, you shouldn’t walk out with an L,” Abii said.
-- Cody Thorn | @sblivetx
