Brenham blasts past Rudder for second straight district win

The Brenham Cubettes have found a winning formula for district games after struggling for over a year to find a district win.

Brenham’s second consecutive District 17-5A win came on Tuesday night with a 73-45 victory over Rudder at Brenham High School.

The Cubettes (18-10, 2-3 district) avenged a season sweep against the Rangers last year while earning their first district home win since Feb. 6, 2024.

Brenham also scored the second-most points of any team against Rudder (3-16, 0-5 district) this year.

“We know what happened last year and just to win in front of our home crowd was really big for us and to do it in the way that we did it was huge,” Brenham senior forward Antyiahna Lang said.

Brenham gained separation in the second quarter after taking a narrow 16-15 lead into the period following a basket from senior forward Amirah Byrd at the first-quarter buzzer. Cubette coach Brad Evans switched to a man defense in the second period after the Rangers broke a zone press effectively in the opening quarter.

The Cubettes executed by forcing seven turnovers in the second quarter, more than doubling Rudder’s three first-quarter turnovers.

“From my point guards to our post players, we have pretty good feet,” Evans said. “We are pretty good at staying in front of people. We are fast. We are strong. The game got kind of chippy, but my girls were still standing tall.”

While Brenham committed five second-quarter turnovers, it also showcased efficiency with the first of three straight 19-point quarters.

Freshman guard Abygale Adams, junior forward Janiyah Mathis and Lang all made two baskets in the period. Adams and Mathis each made a 3-point shot to give Brenham the first two of its six deep makes for the game.

“We just had to wake up and clean up the little things that we were doing,” Lang said. “Once we did that, we knew that they could not play with us, so we just had to play to our level, not theirs.”

The Cubettes led by as many as 13 points late in the second quarter before taking a 35-24 lead into halftime.

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Brenham’s offense was more diverse in the second half. Six different Cubettes earned a basket in the third period, including two baskets for Adams and junior forward Sandra Prieto. Byrd also made the first of her two 3-point baskets during a 10-0 run that gave Brenham a 52-28 lead in the final minute of the period.

The Cubettes expanded their lead to as many as 35 points in the final quarter following a putback from sophomore center Heikera Willias with 1:45 remaining.

Williams, Byrd and Prieto came on multiple times as part of a line change between Brenham’s starting five and its second five players. Evans said his mindset of building a championship culture requires everyone, from the bench to the starters and even managers, to fulfill their role.

The result was a balanced Cubette scoresheet with six players scoring at least five points. Lang led Brenham with 16 points, including an eight-point first quarter. She recorded her fourth 16-point performance of the season to tie her second-highest scoring performance this year.

“They really could not guard me in the post,” she said. “I was a better rebounder than all of them, so I think it just created my space and getting my position and wanting the ball and then just commanding my space in the paint.”

Adams scored 15 points and surged with eight points in the second period. Mathis made up for a scoreless first period with a 12-point performance. Prieto added nine points, Byrd tallied six points and guard Ja’laya Pettus scored five points with two free throws and a 3-point basket in the fourth quarter.

“When we play as a team, I feel like we can be unstoppable, unbeatable,” Mathis said. “I feel like playing as a team, it gets the momentum going and scoring big numbers like that and leaving our opponents in the back.”

Evans added that his second group of players pleased him with their performance. He also noted chemistry is strong amongst all 10 players who played on Tuesday.

“Halfway through the fourth quarter, Amirah Byrd was like, ‘Coach, we are ready,’ and I am like, ‘Alright, at four minutes (left), go in,’” he said. “There is not a selfish player on our team, so four minutes that went (by), it was three minutes and 47 seconds, I am like, ‘Hey, you all go in,’ and they were like, ‘We were still busy cheering for our teammates.’”

The Cubettes will continue district play at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Lake Creek.

“I think we are going to stay focused because everyone wants to get to the playoffs and I feel like there is a really good chance for us to get to the playoffs,” Mathis said.