The 3A No. 1 Wall girls basketball team avenged last year’s second-round loss to Tolar with a 58-40 win in the 3A Division II Region I area round at Baird High School on Friday, Feb. 20.
Sophomore guard Jewels Johnson led the Lady Hawks (33-3) and the game in scoring with 20 points, adding six rebounds and one steal. Junior guard Jaycee Jones paced the Lady Rattlers (24-10) with 18 points and grabbed six rebounds.
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Forward Atley Kolb filled up the stat sheet with a double-double for Tolar, scoring 10 points and hauling in 13 rebounds. The sophomore also had four blocks.
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“I told the girls that was a really resilient showing tonight,” Wall girls basketball coach Silas Crisler said. “We got down 11-2, and we knew Tolar was gonna give us their best shot. You know, there was a little animosity from last year losing to them in area, and a lot of our kids were on that team from last year – they remember it. The moment was tight, it was intense. It was good for our kids to experience. That’s what you want. You want that kind of atmosphere. You want to feel your blood pumping and your heart racing. Our kids thrive under that kind of stuff, and they enjoy it.”
Game-changing plays
Tolar got on the Lady Hawks early in the first quarter, taking a commanding 11-2 lead.
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After a quick timeout, the Lady Hawks rebounded to trail 12-9 by the end of the first quarter.
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Wall girls basketball’s Kennedi Graves (0) drives to the basket in a game against Jim Ned at Wall High School on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026.
A 3-pointer from Lady Hawks guard Kenndi Graves tied the game at the beginning of the second quarter. The two teams stayed lock step for the majority of the second quarter. With less than six seconds, senior guard Katherine Lewis got a steal and score to end the half. However, Wall still trailed 24-22 after a quick correction at the start of the third quarter.
The Lady Hawks took their largest lead up to that point on a 3-pointer from McKenzie Lopez, going up 27-24. They continued to build on their lead after Lewis hit back-to-back 3-pointers, giving the Lady Hawks a 43-36 advantage into the fourth quarter.
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Both teams stayed locked in a defensive struggle to start the fourth quarter, but the Lady Hawks finally took a double-digit lead after a three-point play from sophomore forward Maci Wagoner put them up 50-40.
For a majority of the first three quarters, Wall struggled from the free-throw line. However, that changed late in the fourth quarter as it went 8-for-10 from the stripe down to seal the win.
Wall basketball’s Jewels Johnson (5) attempts to drive past the defense from Jim Ned’s Lily Bryant (10) at Wall High School on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026.
Johnson was particularly effective from the free-throw line, hitting all six of her attempts.
They said it
Coach Crisler on Johnson’s performance: “Whatever it requires for us to win the basketball game, is what she’s going to do,” Crisler said. “If she needs to be an aggressive scorer, she’s going to do that. If she needs to be a facilitator, she’ll do that. If she needs to crash the glass, she just wants to win the basketball game, and she’s a tough kid who was willing to do whatever was required. And after watching her in some of our games this year, the bigger the game, the better she plays. It’s been like that over and over. And so tonight, it’s no surprise to me that she stepped up like she did.”
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Up next
The Lady Hawks will face off against No. 3 Idalou in the 3A Division II Region I Semifinal.
CLASS 3A DIVISION II REGION I AREA PLAYOFF GAME
Wall 58, Tolar 42
Wall 9 13 21 15 – 58
Tolar 12 12 12 8 – 42
Wall (33-3) – Kennedi Graves 7, Katherine Lewis 11, McKenzie Lopez 8, Jewels Johnson 20, Kylee Holik 4, Kenzzie Covert 3, Brynlee Graves 2, Maci Wagoner 3.
Tolar (24-10) – Jaycee Jones 18, Macy Price 11, Kanyn Deaver 1, Callan Nix 3, Atley Kolb 10.
Paul Witwer covers high school sports and Angelo State University sports for The San Angelo Standard-Times. Reach him at sports@gosanangelo.com. Follow him on X @Paul_Witwer, Instagram and TikTok at pwitwer_sast.
This article originally appeared on San Angelo Standard-Times: Wall girls basketball avenges Tolar loss, advances in playoffs
