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Posted Feb 17/11 - Pflugerville clinches State Area round victory, defeats Spring Dekaney 65-50 behind a Taylor's season-high 22 points; moves to Regional quarterfinals next week

BRYAN, Texas -- Behind a season-high 22 points from junior forward I'tiana Taylor and a double-double of 17 points and a game-high 13 rebounds from senior forward Adesuwa Ebomwonyi (pictured), Pflugerville registered a 65-50 victory over Spring Dekaney Thursday night in the 2011 Texas State Tournament Area championship game. The contest was played at Rudder High School.

The Panthers, now 28-6, advance to the State Regional quarterfinals (round of 32) for the 19th time in program history. Pflugerville will face the winner of The Woodlands-Round Rock McNeil HS area game which will be played Friday night (Feb. 18, 7 p.m.) at A&M Consolidated.

The day and time of the Regional quarterfinal will be announced after Friday's contest.

Senior post Nneka Enemkpali added 13 points and pulled down nine rebounds to round out the Panthers' double-figure scorers. Taylor connected on eight of 12 field goal attempts and went six-for-nine from the foul line.

Pflugerville entered the game ranked No. 10 in the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches/Tex Preps Basketball Magazine 5A poll, while Dekaney was 12th.

Dekaney, champions of District 13-5A, ends its season at 32-5. The Wildcats turned the ball over 21 times under tough Panther defensive pressure. Dekaney also was limited on the boards as Pflugerville held a commanding 38-17 edge in rebounding.

The Area Championship was the 19th in the Pflugerville program's history. On February 14, the Panthers earned the 23rd Bi-District championships in history with a 50-29 win over Del Valle. Dekaney won its Bi-District game (54-46) over Lufkin.

Taylor helped the Panthers break open a tight 28-26 game at intermission by scoring 10 points in the third quarter, triggering the Panthers' 17-9 run in the period which pushed the Panthers' lead to 45-35.

Taylor made three driving layups and went four-for-four from the free throw line for those 10 points. Strong Pflugerville's defensive pressure held Dekaney to four field goals (including one 3-pointer) in the eight-minute period and forced the Wildcats into six turnovers.

Pflugerville, which never trailed in the game, saw Dekaney pull to within one point (29-28) with 6:09 left in the third period before the Panthers scored eight unanswered points, six by Taylor, and pushed their lead to 37-28 on a Taylor layup with 3:34 to go. After a Wildcat layup, the Panthers closed out the half with an 8-3 run.

Dekaney pulled to within seven points (47-40) in the final period before Enemkpali and Taylor led P'ville on a 11-1 run. Two Ebomwonyi free throws with 2:58 left capped the run and gave Pflugerville a 58-41 edge.

In the first half, Enemkpali paced the Panthers, scoring 10 points and grabbing seven rebounds as she dominated play. Ebomwonyi also was a force on the boards as she also grabbed seven rebounds.

Sophomore guard Taliyah Brooks added four points and a game-high six steals. The Panthers finished with 16 steals to the Wildcats' nine.

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