Fossil Ridge slams home a win against Carroll

By Louie Horvath

Special to the Star-Telegram

SOUTHLAKE -- Keller Fossil Ridge used some clutch late-game execution to hold off a furious Southlake Carroll rally to win 53-51 on a buzzer-beating dunk by Brandon Conley in a Friday night game that had huge playoff implications in District 7-5A.

After Steve Knowlton of the Dragons made a 3-pointer from the left wing with 52 seconds remaining, the game was tied 51-51. Fossil Ridge ran the clock down to 17.8 seconds, then took a timeout, and coach Zach Myers went to work.

He drew up a play for point guard Ryan Parker to drive into the lane, with shooters behind the 3-point area and Conley underneath. When the player guarding Conley stepped up in front of Parker to attempt to draw a charge, Parker dished to Conley wide open under the basket -- just how Myers had planned it.

"It was set up to just drive in and for my man to step up," Conley said, "and coach Myers said, 'Dunk the mess out of it,' so I got it and I executed."

It was indeed a moment of great execution by the Panthers (20-10, 7-6 District 7-5A), who had scored only five points in the quarter and missed their previous five shots to allow Carroll (16-16, 6-7) back into the game.

"You couldn't ask for much more," Myers said. "We had three sophomores on the floor during that time, so when they execute like that, I'm pretty excited about it."

Carroll's three-quarter-court heave sailed wide, and with that, the Panthers took a big step toward earning the fourth and final spot in the state playoffs from the district in a scramble that also involves Carroll and Justin Northwest.

Fossil Ridge now has a tiebreaker edge over Carroll, having swept the season series, and it controls its own destiny going into the final game of the regular season against Northwest.

Northwest won 47-42 against Denton Guyer to maintain pace with the Panthers. Meanwhile, Keller -- which was one game ahead of both in third -- lost 57-54 to district leader Keller Central. That means that two of the three teams now tied for third going into the regular-season finale will advance to the playoffs.

"If we win, we're in," Myers said, speaking before he learned of the outcomes of the Northwest and Keller games. "If we lose, I don't know. We'll have to have help, and it's such a crazy district, we'll see what happens. But we know if we win, we're in. It's a good feeling to know we don't need any help and it's all in our hands. Our guys are pretty excited about it."

Carroll, by beating Keller on Tuesday, can trigger a three-way tie for fourth.

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