HALTOM CITY – It’s one thing to talk about goals. It’s another to meet them.
Byron Nelson boys basketball players and coaches pointed to this postseason appearance as the one where they believed they were capable of making a deep run. Consider it deep.The Bobcats had little difficulty handling Fort Worth Dunbar’s full court press, used a 15-2 run late and closed out a 77-57 Class 4A Region I quarterfinal victory at the Thomas Coliseum. Senior guard Keyunta Watkins continued his special postseason and led the way with 24 points.Nelson (29-5) advances to the Region I tournament Friday in Snyder and will play the 4 p.m. game against the winner of Wolfforth Frenship-Canyon. That game is being played Wednesday in Plainview because of the snowstorm that hit West Texas on Monday. This is the furthest that any Nelson boys program has advanced in the postseason.“The kids played with such poise and really did a good job of handling what Dunbar threw at them," Byron Nelson coach Scott Curran said. “It’s huge for our kids, our community and our athletic department."In two previous playoff appearances, the Bobcats were eliminated in the bi-district round. But this group is deeper, more talented and has the discipline to be playing into the first week of March.A quick Dunbar 6-0 lead came from its defensive flurry of forced turnovers, steals and layups. That turned out to be about it. Outside of an occasional turnover, the Wildcats couldn’t suffocate the Bobcats. In the open floor, the Bobcats made them pay with a flurry of high percentage shots, either short jumpers or layups.“The middle of the floor is always going to be open," Watkins said. “We just had to keep attacking them."Nelson led 32-31 at the half but there was the feeling that it didn’t feel precarious. Dunbar’s last lead was early in the third quarter before Nelson took a 50-45 advantage into the fourth quarter.Trailing 62-55, the Wildcats went to the half-court trap. Led by Watkins’ ball-handling, the Bobcats usually found the gaps, leading to more easy baskets.Sophomore forward Emmanuel Nzekwesi added 20 and Thomas Williams, who had been fairly quiet in the postseason, added 15.“Emmanuel is going to special," Curran said. “He’s come so far this season. Thomas has been so big for us offensively and defensively. But we told him that he needed to stay aggressive because he had the matchups. This is a great group of kids."Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
