AUSTIN – The 2009 University Interscholastic
League (UIL) boys state basketball tournament opened on Thursday, March 12 at
the Erwin Center
on the University
of Texas campus.
Semifinal
games in Classes 4A, 3A, and A-Division I took place on day one with Classes
5A, 2A, and A-Division II scheduled for Friday. Championships
in all classifications will take place on Saturday, March 14.
Class
4A Semifinal: Houston Yates 76, Mansfield Timberview 51
Houston
Yates manhandled Mansfield Timberview 76-51 in its semifinal contest and
advanced to the Class 4A title game.
Ahead
38-26 at the half, the Lions (33-1) went on a third-quarter rampage, outscoring
the Wolves (27-11) 27-2. Timberview’s only goal of the period came on
Amos Mundendi’s layup with five minutes remaining.
Yates
high-pressure defense contributed to the rout as the Lions forced 36 Timberview
turnovers and scored 37 points off the Wolves’ miscues.
"We didn't
want them to have as many good looks as they did in the first quarter,"
Yates coach Greg Wise commented to the Houston Chronicle. "But we
figured sooner or later with the game going up and down like it was that they
would get tired and we'd be able to get some steals."
Four
Yates player reached double digits as Brandon Peters and Darius Garner netted
12 points each, and Brandon Lee and Brandon Williams garnered 10 apiece.
J.
J. Williams and Cedric Ivory paced Timberview with each scoring 11 points.
Class 4A Semifinal: Dallas Kimball 66, Austin LBJ 54
Dallas
Kimball closed out the first half on a 15-5 run and went on to defeat Austin LBJ 66-54 in Thursday’s second 4A semifinal.
The
Knights (32-9) led 21-20 with just three minutes left in the second quarter
when David Kates developed a hot hand.
Kates,
who finished the game with 24 points and 10 rebounds, scored 11 of Kimball’s 15
final points in the first half and put the Knights ahead 36-25 at
halftime. Davion Crew also contributed 14 points to the Kimball victory.
Cameron
Brown led LBJ’s (28-9) offense with 15 points.
Yates
and Kimball engage for the 4A title on Saturday afternoon.
Class
3A: Lubbock Estacado 77, Sour Lake Hardin-Jefferson
73 OT
Lubbock
Estacado fought back from a 12-point second-quarter deficit to defeat Sour Lake
Hardin-Jefferson 77-73 in overtime in the Class 3A semifinals.
The
Matadors (34-2) trailed 34-26 halftime but erupted for a 12-4 run to open the
third period and tied the game 38-38.
From
that point, the lead jockeyed back-and-forth, and Estacado went in front 68-66
on Clarence Willard’s jumper with 21 seconds left to play. Hardin-Jefferson’s (37-7) Jarvis Benard hit a layup seven seconds later, tying
the game for the seventh time. The Matadors missed two shots in the waning
seconds, sending the contest into overtime.
Estacado
then took command as Willard nailed two quick layups, and the Matadors never
relinquished the lead.
Kevin
Wagner, the son of Estacado head coach Tony Wagner, scored 27 points, and
Willard totaled 13 points, including 11 of them in the fourth quarter and overtime. Jamar Johnson tallied a double-double for the Matadors with 11 points and 12
rebounds.
Benard
topped all scorers with 31 points, while Trey Burrell contributed 18 and Jacoby
Turner added 12 for the Tigers.
Class 3A Semifinal: Dallas Madison
68, Stafford 58
Dallas
Madison scored 19 second-quarter points and allowed only four to hold off Stafford 68-58 in the bottom half of the Class 3A
bracket.
Tied
14-14 after the game’s first eight minutes, the Trojans (32-4) held the
Spartans (30-6) scoreless until the second quarter’s 2:35 mark.
Phillip
Pete’s three-pointer closed the gap for Stafford
to 58-51 with 1:23 remaining. But Madison
connected on eight straight free throws to clinch the win. The Trojans
finished the game with a 20 for 23 performance at the charity stripe.
Madison’s offense produced a
balanced attack led by Dominique Smith’s 13 points. Nick Moore and
Desmond Flentroy each added 11.
"What we
wanted to do was play 32 minutes of basketball today and we came out and did
that," Smith said to the Houston Chronicle. "We never let
our lead go away and we kept on them until the very end of the game."
Stafford’s Maurice Wiltz paced
all scorers with 22 points, while Pete contributed 18.
Estacado
and Madison square off for the 3A championship on Saturday morning.
Class
A Division I: Plains
43, San Antonio
Stacey 41
Plains
staged an impressive comeback to eliminate San Antonio Stacey 43-41 in the
Class A Division I semifinals on Thursday morning.
The
Eagles (26-6) took a 34-26 lead on a Justyn Lewis layup 32 seconds into the
fourth quarter. But the Cowboys (32-1) exploded for a 17-7 run to close
out the contest.
A
10-0 outburst, including six points from Chris Gonzales, put Plains ahead at
36-34 with 4 ½ minutes left to play. Stacey managed to the tie the game
twice at 36-36 and 38-38, but the Eagles could never get back in front.
“If
we were going to come back, I was going to have score,” Gonzales said to
the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. “I wasn’t going to let it be our
last game.”
Tim
Brock’s pair of free throws gave Plains a 43-38 lead with 33 second left to
play. David Clark’s three-pointer narrowed the gap to two points with
seven seconds remaining, but the Eagles never regrouped for a final shot.
Jaaron
Bell’s double-double of 16 points and 13 rebounds keyed the Plains offense,
while Gonzales added another 14, eight of them coming in fourth quarter. Clark paced Stacey with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Class A Division I: Roscoe
64, Tenaha 50
Roscoe
pulled away in the fourth quarter and dispatched Tenaha 64-50 in game two of
the Class A Division I semifinals.
The
Plowboys (27-4) trailed 18-17 after the first quarter but surged to a 32-26
halftime lead, closing out the final three minutes on a 9-2 run. Ahead
47-39 at the end of three periods, Roscoe outscored the Tigers (29-6) 17-11 the
rest of the way.
Jared
Villanueva blistered Tenaha for 28 points, while his brother Jacob and Trae
Howard aided the cause with double-doubles. Jacob Villanueva recorded 16
points and 11 boards, and Howard tallied 10 points and 14 rebounds.
Marlon
McClure topped the Tiger scoring with 24 points, and Jay Moore scored 11.
Plains
and Roscoe will tangle for the Class A Division I title on Saturday morning.
