High school basketball: No. 13 North Crowley, No. 15 Heritage survive frenzied finishes in Texas state semifinals

A pair of nationally-ranked teams narrowly survived upset bids in the Texas state semifinals Tuesday night as No. 13 North Crowley (Fort Worth) pulled out a 52-49 victory over Duncanville and No. 15 Heritage (Frisco) outlasted Birdville (North Richland Hills) 65-63. Both games required game-winning shots in the final seconds to propel the teams to the title games in their respective classes.

In the marquee Conference 6A Division 1 semifinal showdown, North Crowley saw its season sitting in the balance as junior guard Kameron Price drew a foul with approximately 20 seconds remaining as his team trailed 49-47. 

During the process of the foul, Price came up hobbled and was unable to continue, leaving first-year Duncanville head coach Neiman Ford with the decision of who to put at the line. He chose the right guy, or at least it seemed so at the time, as unknown senior guard Tyler Hastings entered the game and subsequently missed both free throw attempts before an offensive rebound gave Hastings a second chance to redeem himself with a 3-pointer from the right wing. The unsung hero did just that, as he converted his only field goal attempt of the game with approximately 10 seconds remaining to give the Panthers the win.

North Crowley (34-3) was sparked by a game-high 18 points from senior forward Trey Hall who was held scoreless the entire first half.

The win sets up a showdown with Brennan (San Antonio) in the state championship game Saturday at 5 p.m. local time as the Bears were able to survive with a 63-61 triumph over Atascocita (Humble) in the other Conference 6A Division 1 semifinal.

Three-star SMU signee Cameron Lomax sent Heritage through to the state championship game in the Conference 5A Division 1 semifinals as he sank a game-winning floater in the final three seconds of regulation to break a tie.

Lomax had a game-high 26 points in the win while five-star Duke signee Bryson Howard chipped in 19 points as well.

Heritage (32-2) faces West Brook (Beaumont) in the Conference 5A Division 1 state championship game Saturday at 11 a.m. West Brook won their semifinal showdown 63-35 over Glenn (Leander).

The other nationally-ranked team in action in the state of Texas on Tuesday was No. 18 Little Elm. The Lobos took down Cypress Springs (Cypress) 60-51 in their semifinal showdown. 

Little Elm (36-2) is set to face Westlake (Austin) in the Conference 6A Class 2A state championship game at 7 p.m.