Monday was a big moment for Cinco Ranch.

The Cougars goal for this year to be the top team in District 19-6A, to get their hands on a district championship and to put themselves in position to make a run.

But to that, you have to beat the best, and year in and year out that has been Tompkins in District 19-6A.

It’s a team that the Cougars had struggled with over the past few years and a tea they knew that they would have to overcome if the team wanted to achieve its goals. The Cougars (15-5, 5-1) were able to do that on Monday, overcoming a deficit and doing what they needed down the stretch to down Tompkins (13-7, 4-1) 47-42 in overtime and move into a tie for first place in the district.

“This was a huge win to prove to everyone who we are as a team,” said senior wing Aniya Foy. “that’s a big thing we want to do, we want to prove to the whole district what we are capable of. This was a really good start to that and we have to keep it going.”

It was a game that came down to the finest margins and the smallest differences and in the end Cinco Ranch made the plays it had to down the stretch to come away with the win. It wasn’t pretty, but that is exactly the kind of win that a team will have to come up with in the playoffs, in the search for a district title and against other strong teams that don’t allow you to get easy shots on the offensive end.

“I’m super proud of every one of them tonight,” said Cinco Ranch head coach LeVar Brown. “You have to be mentally tough and rise above your feelings. There were times in the game where it looked like the feelings were taking over, but every player out there rose above that and they refused to lose out there. They had tenacity and that fight, the difference between good and great is work ethic, attention to detail and tenacity and they showed all three tonight.”

Cinco came out and took a 12-11 lead in the first quarter, but Tompkins exploded in the second quarter and took a 26-16 lead into the half. The Cougars nearly erased that lead in the third quarter, only trailing 33-31 heading into the fourth, but Tompkins increased the lead back to five with just over four minutes remaining in the fourth. The Cougars continued to battle though and came up with key rebounds, key steals, key loose balls and scrapped their way to overtime. From there the team made its shots down the stretch and defended well, shutting down Tompkins down the stretch to seal the win.

“it just came down to our heart I think,” Foy said. “At the end of the day if we want these games bad enough, we can find a way, and that’s what we managed to do today. We have to fight for results and this is a good learning moment for everyone I think.”

Foy ended the night with 22 points, while Keeana Hickman had 14 points and some of the most important down the stretch, hitting clutch free throws to keep the Cougars ahead and help seal the win.

The win put the Cougars into a tie in the loss column with Tompkins and even though everyone in the locker room is celebrating and happy, they know the job is not finished and to accomplish their goals, the team has to keep growing and continuing to get better.

“We want to prove people wrong. We want to show that this team is the team to beat and if we want to do that, there can’t be any let up,” Hickman said. “Our goal is to end at the top of district and we can’t ever lose sight of the day to day or slip focus. If we do it can slip away from us right then.”

District 19-6A

Cinco Ranch 47, Tompkins 42

Points: (CR) Aniya Foy 22, Keeana Hickman 14, Maria Podskarbi 6, Lydia Polk 3, Camille Torrence 2; (T) Sascha Coughran 16, Elsa St. Rose 10, Haylie Panter 8, Natalie Kitts 5, Norah Solomon 1, Kayli Jensen 1, Chika Okwanna 1;

Halftime: Tompkins 26-16; 3-Pointers: (CR) Hickman 2, Foy; (T) Coughran 4, Panter; Records: (CR) 15-5, 5-1; (T) 13-7, 4-1;