Birdville solidifies playoff spot with win over Aledo

By Matthew Martinez

Special to the Star-Telegram

ALEDO -- Birdville's trio of Jalen Murphy, Cris Sawyer and Jeremy Crane combined to hit eight 3-pointers Friday to lead the Hawks to a 60-52 victory over Aledo in District 5-4A play.

Both teams entered the contest already having locked up playoff berths, but with the victory Birdville (22-9, 11-2) is guaranteed at least a second-place district finish with just one regular-season game to play. That means that while likely first-round playoff opponents for Birdville include Fort Worth O.D. Wyatt and Fort Worth Southwest, Aledo (19-10, 8-5) most likely will face a tough first-round draw against either Fort Worth Arlington Heights or Fort Worth Trimble Tech.

"Birdville is the toughest team in the district to guard because they move so well without the basketball," Aledo coach Steve Smith said. "If you fall asleep for a second, they'll expose you, and that's what happened."

The Bearcats hung tough early on, down just 11-9 after the opening quarter of play, but Birdville was able to string together an 18-4 run that stretched into the third behind the strength of the Hawks' outside shooting. Crane hit all three of his 3-pointers in the second quarter.

"You know it's going well for you when you bank one in, like he did his second one," Birdville coach Jeff Fitch said. "He really gave us a spark off the bench in the second quarter and in general I thought we executed pretty well on offense during that stretch."

Guard Taylor Johnson, who led all scorers with 18 points, fueled a 13-3 Aledo run that got the Bearcats within 35-31 late in the third quarter.

But the Hawks were able to stave off the comeback attempt with key stops and patient offense.

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