Wylie junior Skylar Harvey passes the ball during Monday’s Class 6A Division I bi-district girls basketball playoff game against Rockwall at Richardson Berkner High School. Photo by Oladipo Awowale / C&S Media

By David Wolman

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RICHARDSON — For a moment, it appeared that Rockwall was going to win Monday night’s Class 6A Division I bi-district playoff game in runaway fashion. But Wylie, which trailed 11-0 just over three minutes in, was determined to make a game of it. And that it did.

The Lady Pirates battled back from deficits of 11 and nine points in the first half and tied the score in the third quarter on a 3-pointer by freshman Sade Mathes. Wylie had chances to tie or take the lead later in the game but couldn’t get shots to fall in a season-ending 42-38 loss at Berkner High School.

“That’s the team that we’ve had all year,” head coach Nate Heckelman said. “We’ve been down by more than that, but they’ve showed the fire and desire to compete and win games. You saw that out here tonight. We could have been down 20-2 at the end of the first quarter. Instead, we were down only two.”

Wylie struggled on its defensive rotations to begin the game, and Rockwall took advantage, building an 11-0 lead after junior Natalie Barrett made two free throws.

“We weren’t hitting shots and they got a few layups off missed rotations by us, and it gave them some energy there at the beginning,” Heckelman said. “But once we started to settle in and start to cover those rotations, that allowed us to get back into the game.”

The early deficit didn’t faze the Lady Pirates. Wylie finished the opening quarter on a 13-4 run, capped by a 3-pointer by sophomore Aubrey Green that reduced the deficit to 15-13.

After trailing by as many as nine points in the second quarter and 27-20 at halftime, the Lady Pirates were the more energetic team to begin the third quarter.

Mathes brought her teammates and Wylie fans in attendance to their feet after she made a 3-pointer to tie the score at 29-29.

Wylie (24-7) had its chances in the fourth quarter but was unable to get over the hump.

For about 2 1/2 minutes midway through the quarter, Rockwall led 38-35. The Lady Pirates cut the deficit to one point with 1:30 left after junior Skylar Harvey made a jump shot. On the ensuing possession, the Lady Pirates recorded a steal and attempted to push the ball quickly up the court for a potential go-ahead score, but Rockwall junior Angel Pursley tipped a pass intended for junior Ronelyse Hartfield for a steal, giving the ball back to the Yellowjackets.

After Pursley made two free throws with 43 seconds remaining for a 40-37 Rockwall lead, Wylie missed two potential game-tying 3-pointers. Following the second miss, Pursley made a free throw with eight seconds left to increase the Yellowjackets’ lead to four points and all but wrap up a first-round win for Rockwall.

“They came out and showed the fight and the desire to get back into the game,” Heckelman said. “Unfortunately, it’s a game of runs, and they made one more run than we did.”