The Lady Oilers made their first regional championship game appearance since 1991 under first-year head coach Jere’ Adams, who guided the program to its 11th consecutive playoff berth.
Pearland shared the District 23-6A title with Shadow Creek and defeated Clear Springs, West Brook, North Shore and Seven Lakes in the first four rounds of the postseason.
“I feel like it was a special group, and the sky was the limit,” Adams said. “I was just trying to get the next day as a first-year head coach. I’m not surprised to be here — I want to make that clear. Our girls deserved it and worked hard to get here.
We were battle-tested in district, beating Shadow Creek twice then winning games in the playoffs against North Shore and Seven Lakes. At the beginning of the season, no one counted us in, but we just went to work and let our play decide where we would end up.”
Pearland used a pressing defense to open up the first period 5-0 and didn’t allow Summer Creek to score until the 2:37 mark. The Lady Oilers closed out the opening period with a 10-6 lead after forcing seven turnovers by the Lady Bulldogs.
“I think that was the game plan coming into the first half was just come in and set the tempo, and that’s what we did,” Adams said. “In the second half, things got a little crazy. We got into some foul trouble in the second half. We just really struggled to finish and (convert) at the free-throw line.”
Summer Creek used the second quarter to get back in the game outscoring the Lady Oilers 14-10 to knot up the score 20-20 at intermission.
Summer Creek took its first lead of the game at 22-21 with a jumper at the 6:21 mark of the third quarter.
The Lady Bulldogs went ahead by double digits with just under six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter on a 3-pointer and a fastbreak layup.
That sequence handed the Bulldogs a 45-34 lead, and it was more than enough cushion for Summer Creek to finish the job. Pearland never got closer than seven points the rest of the way.
No. 2 state-ranked Summer Creek (38-2) went on to post the 59-42 final score to punch their ticket to the Class 6A state tournament for the second time since 2019.
Pearland 39 – Katy Seven Lakes 37
Junior Rylee Grays scored a team-high 12 points for Pearland, and senior Aryelle Stevens added 11 to lead Pearland to a 39-37 win over Katy Seven Lakes in the Class 6A Region III semifinals.
Pearland finished the opening quarter with a 14-6 lead, thanks to a stout defensive effort. The Oilers held Seven Lakes to 2-for-7 shooting and forced six turnovers.
The Lady Spartans recovered in the second quarter and finally evened the game at 20 with 2:50 remaining on a 3-pointer.
Pearland ultimately walked into the locker room with a 22-20 lead at intermission.
Seven Lakes committed seven more turnovers in the third quarter while making just one shot from the floor.
“Defensively, we just wanted to lock in, be aware of where (Carlton) was and just play solid defense, bump the cutters,” Adams said. “We had our plan, and our kids just executed on that.”
Pearland took advantage over the final 2:10 of the third quarter with a 6-0 run, including a layup with 14 seconds left. That gave the Oilers a 32-23 advantage entering the fourth.
That lead was enough cushion for Pearland, which held on for its 15th consecutive win. Seven Lakes cut its deficit to two with 0.2 seconds to play with a deep 3-pointer, but it was too little, too late.
