Dunbar boys' defense denies Eastern Hills

By Kevin Casas

Special to the Star-Telegram

Ask coach Robert Hughes Jr. where his Fort Worth Dunbar Wildcats stack up through five games of District 6-4A play and the grade is somewhere near a "B."

Thursday, with an unrelenting pressure defense, Dunbar tacked on another win, 94-68 over Eastern Hills at Billingsley Field House.

While they may have graded well this game, Hughes said he's still wanting more consistency from his team.

"We're getting there," he said. "I've got some tougher kids this year. I'm not going to do this again, but we had a practice recently where I basically let them play football. They got a lot of that out of them and they're starting to play smarter."

It was a 10-0 run that overlapped the first and second quarter that helped Dunbar pull away.

Da'lante Brooks was key during the run, scoring seven of the 10 points.

That stretch gave Dunbar (10-7, 5-0 District 6-4A) a 25-15 lead, and Brooks finished the night with 32 points.

He scored 14 of those with four 3-pointers and two free throws in the final quarter as the Wildcats kept their foot on the gas.

"And that's the way we're going to play always," Hughes said. "We're not changing. We're going play pressure defense all the time, it's what will make us a better team and get us back to where we're accustomed to being."

Eastern Hills (2-9, 1-4) had 14 turnovers and shot 38 percent from the floor.

Donald Henry had 18 points and Dennis Jones 17 for Dunbar.

Benny West led Eastern Hills with 18 points and Terrell Harrison had 15.

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