The 2010 girls’ high school basketball playoff season came to an abrupt end last week for the three local teams who qualified for the postseason.

The Tomball Lady Cougars, Magnolia Lady Bulldogs and Magnolia West Lady Mustangs each were knocked out of the playoffs after first round losses Feb. 15.

The biggest surprise was the loss by the Lady Cougars to the Lufkin Panthers. Tomball earned a share of the 13-5A District title, along with Klein Collins, after going 12-2 in district play and earned the number 2 seed.

That pit them against Lufkin, a team that went 14-6 overall and 7-3 in 14-5A, good for third place. Based solely on each team’s overall record and playoff seeding, it appeared as though Tomball would have no problem moving on to the second round.

But that was not nearly the case. The Panthers all but ran the Lady Cougars out of the gym in a game that was never close, blowing Tomball out 71-49. Lufkin moved on to take on Georgetown, who beat Cy Woods in a first round overtime game.

Meanwhile, 18-4A third place finisher Magnolia West took on 17-4A runner-up Buda Hays in the first round of the Region III 4A playoffs. Much like the Lady Cougars, the Lady Mustangs were out of it early and lost by 21 points, 49-28, ending their 2009-2010 season.

Magnolia West finishes 10-11 overall.

A similar fate awaited the Magnolia Lady Bulldogs in their first round contest against Del Valle, 17-4A District champions. After a defensive battle in the first quarter after which Del Valle only led 7-5, the second quarter sealed Magnolia’s fate.

Del Valle outscored the Lady Bulldogs 13-1 to take a 20-6 halftime lead, a deficit Magnolia would not come close to overcoming on their way to a 49-38 loss. Kellie Loukanis and Shaquania Fuseller led the Lady Bulldogs with 11 points each.

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