Basketball Recap: Midlothian Heritage Proves Higher State Rank Is No Mistake

It can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but Midlothian Heritage had no problem doing just that on Monday. They managed a 49-45 win over the Waco Lions. Given the Jaguars' advantage in MaxPreps' Texas basketball rankings (they are ranked 148th, while the Lions are ranked 658th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Midlothian Heritage can attribute much of their success to Ava Batty, who posted 19 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Riley Menicucci, who earned eight points.

Despite the loss, Waco saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Shamiah Taylor went 10 for 22 to rack up 29 points. That was a full 64.4% of Waco's points, marking the fourth time in a row she's put up more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Ka'Mauri Jones, who scored seven points.

Midlothian Heritage is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six games, which provided a nice bump to their 25-10 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 51.2 points over those games. As for Waco, their defeat dropped their record down to 11-19.

Coming up, a feisty cat fight will be fought when the Jaguars duke it out with the Panthers on Thursday. Hillcrest will roll in looking for their sixth straight victory, something Midlothian Heritage surely won't give up without a fight. Waco does not have any more games scheduled as of now.