San Angelo Central Girls Locked Down by Frenship

SAN ANGELO, TX — A matchup of 19-win teams looked good on paper between the San Angelo Central and Frenship girls basketball teams on Friday.

On the court, however, Frenship’s size told a different story.

Frenship’s 6-foot-2 Jada Jackson, who is six inches taller than anyone on Central’s roster, had 13 points and seven rebounds to lead the Lady Tigers to a 47-33 win.

Frenship had a size advantage at almost every position, and it showed as Central struggled to break through the Lady Tigers’ defense.

Central trailed 39-19 heading into the fourth quarter before the Lady Cats finally found some offense late.

“We kind of hang our hat on our defense,” Frenship head coach Trent Hilliard said. “It’s tough to get penetration and do some things against them. I thought (Central’s Jazmyne Gipson) did a good job working the middle and picking up a lot of rebounds and doing that there early in the game. She created some problems for us and kept them close. She’s just a battler in there. She’s been through some wars for many years now, and she did a good job. And then they hit a couple threes out there at the top of the key, and we talked about that at halftime, extending out a little bit.

“I thought the kids did a real good job of being able to stretch it out in the third quarter.”

Frenship scored only eight points in the third quarter, but the Lady Tigers held Central to just three points to put the game away.

Frenship had a balanced attack as Madison Phillips had 10 points and Mazzy Beam — the daughter of former Angelo State standout Sharon Ballenger — had eight points.

Gipson had 12 points and six rebounds to lead Central.

Frenship has lost only two district games since 2023, and both of those were in San Angelo, so the Lady Tigers weren’t taking this game lightly.

Frenship improved to 20-8 overall and 3-0 in District 2-6A, while Central fell to 19-7, 1-2.

“We’re 3-0 and two of those wins are on the road,” Hilliard said. “To get road wins in this district, that’s big, because especially for us and Central, those roads are long trips. … In the last four years, we’ve lost two district games, and both of those were here by two points, so we knew this was a big one for us. This is one of the toughest places to play, so we’re pleased with the final outcome.”

Central has had a strong start to the season, but the Lady Cats have run into some trouble early in a difficult district. They opened district play with a 42-37 loss at Odessa Permian before bouncing back with a 38-22 win over Odessa High.

Friday’s loss has them off to a 1-2 start, but Permian and Frenship are the district’s co-leaders, so Central can still finish the first half of district in third place if it can find wins next week in Midland.

Central has road trips at Midland Legacy on Tuesday and Midland High on Friday before returning home for a rematch against Permian on Tuesday, Jan. 27.

Frenship has won at least a share of the district title nine years in a row, and the Lady Tigers look like they’ll be in the running again this season. 

They’ll face their biggest obstacle Tuesday when they host Permian (25-4, 3-0).

Frenship 47, San Angelo Central 33

Frenship   11   20   8   8   — 47

Central   8   8   3   14 — 33

FRENSHIP — Mazzy Beam 8, Madison Phillips 10, Emily Lent 2, Amaryah Busby 2, Jada Jackson 13, Piper Smith 2, Addisyn Bollinger 5, Brooklyn Cox 5. 

CENTRAL — Addison Gonzales 6, Ebonee Newton 3, Jazymne Gipson 12, Karsyn Scott 7, Sophie Hernandez 2, Kaylen Franklin 3.