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SAN ANTONIO - Chinwe Duru towered over her opponents in every way possible. The junior for Cedar Park Vista Ridge could push her opponents aside like rag dolls if she wanted to.

For the Victoria East posts, it was a constant struggle against the 6-foot-2 post. They knew she was going to be the focal point of everything the Lady Rangers did on the court.

"It was really hard," said Titans sophomore post Ramaya Dean. "I just stuck to her and didn't want to foul her."

The rest of the Titans players on the court had their hands full with the rest of the Vista Ridge players.

"It was really hard because all of them were good players," said junior Adelaide Wenzel. "We had to stay on them, but her being so much better, we always had to worry about her backside and help out."

But Duru's presence in the middle proved to be too much for the Titans.

Victoria East (22-10) limited the seven other Lady Rangers who scored to four points or less. But Duru's 28 points and her abilities at both ends of the court lifted the Lady Rangers to a berth in the Region IV-4A final over East, 46-40, on Friday night.

The Lady Rangers (31-5) play Austin LBJ, which beat Hidalgo Early College 62-35 earlier in the evening, in the regional final on Saturday at 1 p.m.

It was Duru's presence on defense and on offense that changed the complexion of the game, said Titans coach Yulonda Wimbish-North.

"(Duru)'s presence caused us trouble because she was so tall," she said. "Once we got in there, we had someone trying to shoot over someone who's 6-2, and I think we fought her presence all game.

"It was just a combination of our shots not falling, and she was standing in there causing us some trouble."

The Titans struggled to guard her for much of the game. Kenya Griffin, Ashley Strelec and Ramaya Dean all spent time covering Duru on defense, with mixed results. The Titans missed Griffin's presence on the court. Despite having seven points, the junior post missed large parts of all four quarters, including the entirety of the second, in foul trouble.

The situation left Dean responsible for Duru for much of the time. At 5-foot-8, she gave up several inches and a lot of size to the 6-foot-2 post for the Lady Rangers, but found success on defense her own way, Wimbish-North said.

"Kenya's presence was good, but Ramaya also did a good job with her athleticism," Wimbish-North said. "I think they both did some good things, but it just didn't happen for us."

Dean finished with two points, but also added four steals.

The Titans struggled on offense for much of the game. Despite spurts in the second and third quarter when East took the lead, Vista Ridge played a tight defensive game and led on the defensive rebounds.

"They had really good defense, and we couldn't really play our game," Wenzel said. "We'd try to drive, and they'd stop everything. But our screens helped."

Wenzel led the Titans with 15 points, 10 of which came in the second quarter. But the inconsistency on offense allowed Vista Ridge to go on a 9-1 run to overcome a one-point East lead halfway through the third quarter, taking a seven point lead that the would not relinquish.

Wimbish-North said the Titans were most successful when they were able to generate steals and score in transition.

"If we were able to press them in the back court, and get a steal and score," Wimbish-North said. "A lot of times we were able to run up and tip the ball out, and that's just what we do."

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