Boerne forward Caroline Field slashes away with a rebound during the Lady Hounds win over Alamo Heights. Field scored 30 points for the night. Photo by Mike Reeder

The Boerne High School women’s varsity basketball team wrapped up its home schedule Friday with its second win of the season over Alamo Heights and needed only a win at last-place Edgewood Kennedy Tuesday to clinch its second straight, undisputed District 27-4A championship. The Lady Hounds had already claimed a playoff spot with their 67-30 home court win over Memorial on Jan. 29.

Boerne improved to 19-7 overall and to 8-1 in district with its 71-52 victory over the Lady Mules, who fell to 5-4 in district and into a third-place tie with Fredericksburg. Kerrville Tivy was in second place with a 7-2 district record.

Friday’s contest was the last home game for seniors Caroline Field, Maggie Klein and Morgan Riser. Beating arch-rival Alamo Heights made their final home court victory even sweeter.

“I’m just so glad we finished with a win,” Riser said. “It was a good win in a good game and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“We had to find a way to make it memorable, because we’re really the last graduating class at Boerne High School,” Field said, referring to next year’s opening of the new Sam Champion High School.

No one who saw the game will forget Field’s 30-point performance, which included five-three pointers. After failing to score in a close first quarter, Field helped erase a 12-17 Boerne deficit with nine points in the second period. Her three-pointer with 12 seconds left in the half put Boerne on top 36-30 at intermission. When she wasn’t dialing long distance, Field was scouring the boards and scoring easy layups off offensive rebounds. Her final three from somewhere east of San Marcos gave Boerne a 10-point lead with less than three minutes to play. It forced Heights to foul, and the Lady Hounds put the game away at the charity stripe.

“Caroline got in a groove and the other girls, especially Maggie, did a good job finding her,” said Boerne Coach Jonathan Tate, who has guided the team to the playoffs in his first year on the job. “Caroline’s a great offensive rebounder and a great player in transition. Her first two or three steps are lightning quick, so she beats everybody on the fast break.”

Boerne forward Stephanie Dyal also swished a big second quarter three and Riser added four second period points from the post position. Riser’s eight-point night followed a great performance against Memorial, which included 12-points, seven rebounds, three steals and two blocks. The defensive numbers are nothing new, but Riser’s emergence as an offensive force gives opponents something extra to worry about.

“I’ve been working more on individual posts and other offensive things in practice,” Riser said. “Everybody’s working more to get the ball in to me, so it’s a team effort.”

Team defense also played a huge role in Boerne’s come-from-behind win. After giving up 17 points in the first quarter, Boerne held Heights scoreless for a four-minute stretch in the second as Boerne went on a 15-3 run. Only Kate Bennert’s trio of treys kept Heights in the game at all. Heights guard Stephanie Wittman, the Mules’ main threat and a gifted athlete, had scored ten points in the first period despite being matched up against Klein, the Lady Hounds’ best defender. But Tate gave Klein some help and confused Wittman by constantly switching from zone to man defense. He also wore her down with depth, continually running fresh players against her. Meantime, Wittman never sat and visibly wore down. Wittman went scoreless in the second period and accounted for only seven points in the second half.

“She was really quick,” Klein said. “At the beginning she was making her shots and driving well. But Morgan helped me a lot, and I think collectively we did a good job on her.”

Boerne point guard Kendall Siess finished with 10 points and Klein added 10 to give Boerne three players in double figures.