Kimball boys knock off Lincoln in dramatic finish; DeSoto girls win holiday tournament.
Last week's Dallas ISD Coca-Cola Boys Basketball Tournament was the 71st edition of the event, so its history includes many dramatic finishes. But few of those tournaments could match this year's final two days of boys competition at Ellis Davis Field House.
In the quarterfinals,
DeSoto needed overtime to beat South Grand Prairie, 68-62, and
Lincoln (Dallas) needed overtime to beat Madison, 99-89. In the semifinals, Lincoln beat DeSoto 52-51 on
Kryon Criner's halfcourt shot at the buzzer.
In the third-place game on Wednesday, DeSoto went to overtime again before beating Richardson Berkner, 74-66. And then came the championship game, a back-and-forth battle waged by Lincoln and
Kimball (Dallas).
Lincoln star
LeBryan Nash, a 6-7 forward who signed with Oklahoma State, nailed three 3-pointers but powered inside for most of his 34 points.
Jordan Williams, a 6-6 forward who signed with North Texas, led the way for Kimball with 28 points. He was named the tournament's MVP after Kimball (15-2) took down Lincoln (18-1), but it was a Kimball guard who stole the show in the 81-79 win.
With the game tied and 10 seconds remaining, Kimball senior
Austin Franklin dribbled to the top of the key, crossed over to his left and hit a 12-foot floater with 1.3 seconds left.
It was quite a finish, and it could be a preview of what's to come as district play begins this week. The Dallas area is again stacked with more than a dozen boys teams that could challenge for the Class 3A, 4A and 5A state titles in March. Marcus is ranked No. 21 and Lincoln is ranked No. 23 in the latest edition of the
MaxPreps Xcellent 25 boys basketball rankings.
"It's like that here every year," said DeSoto boys coach Chris Dyer, whose teams won 5A titles in 2003 and '09. "The kids here know each other well because they play each other all summer. It's really competitive."{PAGEBREAK}
DESOTO GIRLS WIN DALLAS ISD COCA-COLA TOURNAMENTThe
DeSoto girls climbed from No. 9 to No. 5 in the state 5A rankings, and with good reason. DeSoto knocked off Irving MacArthur (No. 3 in 5A) in the semifinals and then walloped Frisco Wakeland, 63-45, in the championship.
Chelsea Gardner, a Kansas signee, scored 16 points to lead DeSoto past Wakeland, which was ranked No. 1 in 4A.
FLOWER MOUND MARCUS BOYS DEFEND WHATABURGER TITLEMarcus (Flower Mound), No. 2 in the 5A state rankings, rolled past Little Rock (Ark.) Parkview, 71-63, to win its second straight Whataburger Tournament. Marcus whipped No. 4 Cedar Hill, 69-53, in the semifinals. "If we play our game," Marcus guard Phil Forte told The Dallas Morning News, "we can beat almost anyone."
PLANO BOYS WIN AVERY AIR INVITATIONALWith star forward
Rashad Smith, a Tulsa signee, missing the game with an ankle injury,
Plano relied on defense. The Wildcats smothered McKinney for a 57-40 victory in the title game.
Daniel Slaughter, who had 10 points in the win, was named the tournament MVP.
LAKEVIEW KEEPS TOP SPOTThe
Lakeview Centennial (Garland) boys held on to the top spot in this week's 5A state rankings. Lakeview (17-1) was a state finalist last year and features star guards
Toddrick Gotcher (signed with Texas Tech) and
Chris Jones (orally committed to North Texas.)
Matt Wixon is the high school sports columnist for The Dallas Morning News. He can be reached at mwixon@dallasnews.com or on Twitter @mattwixon.
