South Grand Prairie boys' inside play too much for Mansfield Timberview, 62-51

By Jarret Johnson

jmjohnson@star-telegram.com

GRAND PRAIRIE -- South Grand Prairie, ranked No. 2 in Texas, moved to 3-1 in the formidable District 7-5A with a 62-51 home win over No. 4 Mansfield Timberview on Tuesday.

After an ugly first quarter that ended in a 10-10 deadlock, the Warriors (22-2 overall) were up 28-19 lead by halftime. Timberview (19-3, 2-2 in District 7-5A) was held without a field goal for a seven-minute stretch in the first half as South Grand Prairie built its lead by powering the ball inside on drives to the rim.

Senior guard Trey Hall led the way with 15 points, followed by Virginia Tech signee Ben Emelogu, who finished with 14. Emelogu capped the Warriors' second-quarter run by burying a contested 3-pointer with 30 seconds left on the clock.

"Anytime you can beat a great team, one of the top teams in the state and a district opponent it's a confidence builder," Emelogu said. "It's very important to get the win at home, you have to get the ones at home."

South Grand Prairie opened the second half on a 4-0 run on a jump hook by Rick Curry and a layup by Hall to push the lead to 13 and never looked back. The Warriors led by as many as 17 with under a minute left in the third quarter and carried a 45-30 advantage into the fourth.

The Wolves, who were 19-1 after the holiday break, have lost two straight following a 68-50 loss to No. 1 DeSoto on Friday and Tuesday's defeat to the No. 2 Warriors.

Chris Owens led Timberview with 11 points on a trio of fourth quarter 3-pointers. His last shot from behind the arc cut the lead to 59-49 with 1:09 left but Warriors guard Mark Howell answered with a three-point play to end any shot of a comeback.

Jarret Johnson, 817-390-7760

Twitter: @JohnsonJarret

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