Robert E. Lee's Olivia Eweni (22) hits a short jumper for a score over Naaman Forest's Ishia Jones (24). ( Lang White / Correspondent )

Chris Parry, cparry@tylerpaper.com

Robert E. Lee is playoff bound and Lady Raiders coach Nigel Boyles is soaking wet.

The Lady Raiders defeated Garland Naaman Forest 56-42 Tuesday at the REL Varsity Gymnasium. The teams entered the final contest in District 11-6A basketball battling for fourth place in the league standings and the final playoff spot.

It was a winner-take-all game and the Lady Raiders took it, using a dominant second half to pull away from Naaman Forest.

“I couldn’t be happier for these kids,” said first-year coach Boyles while trying to dry off after receiving a Gatorade bath from her players. “We had a goal long before this season started when we (came together) in August, and the goal was playoffs. You have to give it to a team that has gone through adversity; we went through adversity tonight with two of our starters on the bench for the majority of the night. They fought through it, they believed in themselves and I couldn’t be happier for them.”

Lee (16-16) finished District 11-6A with an 8-8 record and will now face Killeen in the Class 6A bi-district round at 6:30 p.m. Monday at Fairfield High School. Naaman Forest completed its season with a 10-20 record.

It was Senior Night, but REL freshman Jakayla Bowie carried the scoring load for REL with 18 points. Senior guards Alex Thorne and Tree Brooks finished with 11 and 10 points, respectively, while combining for seven assists and four steals. Senior post Olivia Eweni finished with six points and 11 rebounds.

REL’s fourth senior starter, Berjae Lewis, suffered an injury in the first quarter and did not return. She finished with two points and Boyles is not sure about her status for the playoff game.

“I haven’t got any updates on her yet, but I will be praying for her all night tonight and hoping that she is going to make it back,” Boyles said. “If anyone can make it back, it’s Berjae Lewis.”

For the opening eight minutes, Naaman Forest controlled everything about the game, except for the score. Naaman Forest outshot REL 15-9 in the first period, had numerous second-chance looks, seemed to get to every loose ball and went to the free-throw line five times for 15 attempts.

All of that added up to 11 points for the visiting Lady Rangers.

REL scored sporadically, but it was enough to lead 12-11 in the first period.

Naaman Forest then went cold from the floor in the second period while Bowie drained a trey and had a put-back to help give REL a 21-15 lead at the break.

“Last time we played them it was a lot of zone, so we prepared for zone all week and then they come out and show man,” Boyles said of her REL’s sluggish start. “We love playing against man-to-man, but it just mixed us up and threw us out of our game plan a little.

“I think the halftime did us great to get us (straightened out).”

The Lady Raiders came out in the second half and immediately got a steal and layup from Brooks. Naaman Forest’s Amanda Barlow connected from beyond the arc to make it 25-20.

Thorne had been held to two points in the first half, but when REL needed it, she delivered a 3-pointer on the wing and had the first of several second-half layups to give the Lady Raiders a 10-point lead, 30-20, with 3:43 to go in the third.

The closest Naaman Forest would get after that was eight points, 32-24, off two free throws by Lady Rangers leading scorer Jade Compton.

REL finished the third period with six consecutive points and began the fourth with an 8-2 run to build a 20-point lead.

Naaman Forest attempted a late comeback, but despite a 9-2 run, couldn’t get its deficit to single digits.

Brooks went to the playoffs as a freshman with her older sister, Bre, and is said she can’t wait to experience it again three years later as a senior.

“This was a big weight off of my shoulder because we haven’t gone since my sister was here,” Brooks said. “We have to go past the first round. We have Killeen on Monday and we are just going to practice hard, work hard and hopefully bring back a win.”

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District 11-6A

Robert E. Lee 56, Naaman Forest 42

Naaman Forest 11 4 9 18 — 42

Robert E. Lee12 9 17 18 — 56

NAAMAN FOREST — Jasmine Saddler, 5; Amanda Barlow, 7; Janyah Crabtree, 4; Jade Compton, 21; Ishia Jones, 4; Jade Kirby, 1. FG: 16-50. FT: 8-20.

ROBERT E. LEE — Alex Thorne, 11; Lexi Hawkins, 2; Tree Brooks, 10; Tyreesha Blaylock, 3; Jakayla Bowie, 18; Erin Brinkley, 4; Olivia Eweni, 6; Berjae Lewis, 2. FG: 23-45. FT: 8-12.

THREE POINT GOALS — NF (1-8): Barlow. REL (2-8): Bowie, Thorne.

RECORDS — Naaman Forest 10-20 (7-9); Robert. E. Lee 16-16 (8-8).

NEXT UP — Lee vs. Killeen in 6A bi-district playoff, 6:30 p.m. Monday at Fairfield HS.