SAN ANTONIO — The Eula girls basketball team snapped a four-decade state tournament drought last season before falling in the championship game.
The Pirates didn’t have to wait as long to get back. The 2025-26 Eula girls basketball team outlasted five opponents to make it back to the Alamodome, where Broaddus stood in their way again.
Drawing on the experience of last year and knowledge of the Bulldogs, Eula led early, but the length of Broaddus eventually wore down the Pirates in a 52-42 loss, ending their season at 36-3.
Even coming in as an underdog, Eula coach Josh Fostel felt good about his team’s chances, having been on this stage last season, but said a stretch in the third quarter proved costly.
After the Pirates cut it to 24-19, Broaddus went on an 11-2 run, punctuated by an offensive rebound that was kicked out for an open 3-pointer that was a dagger to the momentum of the Bulldogs.
“We did everything we could, but we dug too big of a hole there,” Fostel said. “We just needed a few more breaks to go our way. We were worried about turnovers for layups and, in my head, we did a decent job of not giving up easy ones off turnovers. We are undersized a little bit, and that meant offensively we had to be really special.
“We were good, but just not quite good enough today.”
Addison Goodman, one of the team’s seniors and part of a group that notched more than 100 wins over the past three seasons, said there were less nerves this time around, which helped Eula build an early 10-4 lead on the favored Bulldogs.
“Being here last year and coming again helped our nerves,” Goodman said. “We weren’t so overwhelmed by how big this stadium is. We were more comfortable.
“This year was so special because we lost a major piece from last year’s team and as seniors we had to step up.”
Despite congested passing lanes and height inside, Eula took care of the ball in its second matchup with Broaddus, finishing with only 11 turnovers, which limited a major strength of the Bulldogs — scoring in transition.
Fostel said even though the Pirates hit eight 3-pointers and shot 36% from beyond the arc, he thought there were a couple of shots that his team normally hits that could have tightened the game even more down the stretch.
“It was a bad combination where we weren’t getting stops and we weren’t scoring,” Fostel said. “Hence, the hole got dug a little too deep. Their physicality, length and size wears you down. I thought we rebounded really well in the first quarter and they wore us down on the boards in the second, third and fourth quarter.”
Emma Damron led the Pirates with 18 points and eight rebounds while Kamryn Franklin added nine points — all from long range.
Now with a better showing to cap back-to-back state championship game appearances, Fostel said the last two graduating classes have set a standard and laid a foundation of what Pirates basketball can be.
“They are huge shoes to fill for our younger ones,” Fostel said. “These girls have laid the roadmap. This is how it is done, this is how it is done and this is what it takes. Obviously, God blessed these players with talent, but what they poured into it added to that. They’ve shown that to the younger ones. They are role models and great people and students.
“Everyone sees the work they put in and they have to realize that is what it takes to be able to give ourselves a chance at competing at this stage.”
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Eula hopeful of building off back-to-back state title game appearances
Reporting by Quinton Martinez, Abilene Reporter-News / Abilene Reporter-News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
