FW Arlington Heights boys do enough to beat Aledo

By Greg Bogomol

Special to the Star-Telegram

ALEDO -- Fort Worth Arlington Heights coach Jon Wagner was probably wondering if his team could find a way to put away Aledo. Wagner sat and watched his team make just 6 of 20 free throws in the fourth quarter, but it was just enough to send his Yellow Jackets to a 51-47 District 7-4A victory on Tuesday.

After the first eight minutes of the game, a Heights win looked bleak as the 'Jackets made just two of their first 10 shots and turned the ball over eight times as Aledo (14-12, 2-4) built an early 13-4 lead.

Heights (14-7, 5-1) fought back in the second quarter, going on an 11-2 run over the final three minutes to turn an 11-point deficit into a 26-25 lead at halftime.

During the run, Brandon Bonner (who had a team-high 14 points) had four points. During the middle two quarters the 'Jackets hit 16 of 23 shots to lead 43-35 going into the fourth quarter.

"We didn't do a good job at the line, especially down the stretch," Wagner said. "But I was extremely proud of the couple big defensive stops we had there. This was huge win to be able to come into Aledo and get a win."

Aledo was led by Taylor Johnson, who finished with a game-high 17 points but was held scoreless during the second quarterbecause Arlington Heights contested every shot Johnson took.

"We knew he [Johnson] was their bread and butter and their main weapon that we needed to shut down," Wagner said. "We knew if we could do that, that we had a chance."

After a Johnson layup cut Heights' lead to five with 1:44 to play, Aledo cut the lead to three with a Dawson Gates layup with 17 seconds left.

After Heights made a free throw, Aledo was unable to get any closer.

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