Martin's Mill head coach Tommy Cross talks to his team during a stoppage in play against Stamford Friday at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

SAN ANTONIO — Martin’s Mill attempted a comeback for the ages.

The Lady Mustangs trailed by 20 at halftime, by as much as 27 in the second half, by 19 after three quarters and by 21 with 5:10 to play.

But Martin’s Mill chipped away and cut the deficit to four points, which was the final margin, as Stamford moved on to the Class 2A championship game with a 68-64 win in the semifinal game Friday morning at the Alamodome.

“It was tough,” Martin’s Mill head coach Tommy Cross said. “It started out kind of rough. I felt like the first few minutes we were kind of exchanging baskets and then, I tip my hat to Stamford, they made a heck of a run there. They shot the ball really well today. They played with a lot of energy.

“We kind of came back there later in the game with some of our own energy and played with a sense of urgency. We just came up a little bit short today.”

Martin’s Mill led 8-7 early after a 3-pointer by Kate Lindsey. Stamford responded with a 12-0 run in the final 5:11 of the first quarter to lead 19-8.

The Lady Dawgs outscored the Lady Mustangs 16-7 in the second quarter to make the score 35-15 at halftime. Stamford held a 24-14 rebounding advantage in the first half, and Martin’s Mill was 6 of 22 from the field and 2 of 12 from 3-point range.

“The first half, we were outrebounded by 10, and that’s one of the things we talked about too,” Cross said. “We’re not a huge team, got a little bit of length, but we definitely want to try to make it even when we’re rebounding against bigger teams. I felt like they were a little bigger than us today. The rebounding is the thing that stuck out to me and the fact that we weren’t making shots early. Finally, they started falling a little bit later thank goodness.”

Stamford features three players that are six-feet tall, while Martin’s Mill’s tallest players are 5-10.

Martin’s Mill ended up winning the rebounding battle 37-34 and finished with 10 made 3-pointers as it shot 6 of 13 from downtown in the fourth quarter.

Stamford extended its lead to 48-21 with 3:17 left in the third quarter with a three by Tylee Jo Bevel. The Lady Dawgs led 53-34 at the end of the third quarter. With the score at 65-45 with 4:44 to play, the Lady Mustangs went on an 8-0 run to make the score 65-53. Jada Celsur and Libby Rogers both connected from deep during that run.

Stamford led 66-53 when Mattie Burns converted an old-fashioned 3-point play, followed by a Lindsey triple and two free throws by Celsur to cut the score to 66-61 with 1:03 remaining. Stamford extended its lead with two free throws, including one with 35 seconds left to make the score 68-61. Celsur came back down and made a contested three with 30 second left. Time just ran out on the Lady Mustangs.

“We played so stinking good the first three quarters and then kind of short circuited,” Stamford head coach Joe Crabb said. “Give them a ton of credit because they can really shoot the ball. We knew that in advance. They shot lights out when they really needed it, when they were just about done. They came to life and gave us a good scare for sure.”

Celsur finished with 27 points — 22 in the second half — in what was her final high school game.

“It’s been great,” Celsur said. “Not many people get to experience three times at state in your four years of high school. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

Martin’s Mill had been to state 16 times overall and 15 times in the last 17 tries with six state titles, including one in 2019 when Celsur was a freshman. She was the leading scorer with 16 points in that 2019 title win over Grapeland.

Other double-digit scorers on Saturday for the Lady Mustangs (36-4) were Lindsey with 14 and Kylee Lookabaugh with 11. Lookabaugh is also a senior.

Lalonna Applin led Stamford with 21 points. Shandlee Mueller and Bevel had 14 each.

Applin and Mueller were on the Stamford softball team that won the state title last season.

On Saturday, No. 13 Stamford (36-2) will take on No. 1 Gruver at 1:30 p.m. for a basketball state championship after knocking off the Nos. 2, 3 and 6 teams in the last week.

“We love it,” Crabb said. “I don’t remember finally being ranked. It adds a little fuel. I get fired up thinking about it. Rankings don’t matter, though. We’re right here right now. We’re going to play for that championship on Saturday, and we’re fired up. That’s where we want to be.”

———

Stamford 68, Martin’s Mill 64

Martin’s Mill 8 7 19 30 — 64

Stamford 19 16 18 15 — 68

MARTIN’S MILL — Kylee Lookabaugh 5-10 1-2 11; Mattie Burns 3-8 3-7 9; Libby Rogers 1-10 0; 3; Kate Lindsey 4-9 2-2 14; Jada Celsur 8-19 6-6 27; Ruthie Mein 0-1 0-0 0. Team 21-57 12-17 64.

STAMFORD — Lainee Lefevre 1-2 2-2 4; Audrey Brewer 4-8 0-0 9; Brisha Applin 1-2 4-7 6; Laylonna Applin 5-12 10-14 21; Shandlee Mueller 5-11 1-5 14; Tylee Jo Bevel 6-10 0-0 14; Kayla Cantu 0-2 0-2 0; Chloe Rathael 0-0 0-0 0. Team 22-47 17-30 68.

3-POINTERS — Martin’s Mill 10-31 (Celsur 5-12, Lindsey 4-9); Stamford 7-21 (Mueller 3-4).

REBOUNDS — Martin’s Mill 37 (Celsur 7); Stamford 34 (B. Applin 6, Bevel 6).

ASSISTS — Martin’s Mill 10 (Burns 3, Rogers 3); Stamford 15 (B. Applin 4, Mueller 4).

STEALS — Martin’s Mill 7 (Celsur 5); Stamford 11 (Lefevre 2, Brewer 2, L. Applin 2, Mueller 2, Bevel 2).

BLOCKS — Martin’s Mill 2 (Rogers 2); Stamford 5 (Lefevre 3).

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