Arlington Heights can’t overcome off shooting night against Rosenberg Terry

By Jarret Johnson

jmjohnson@star-telegram.com

AUSTIN — Fort Worth Arlington Heights won ugly, low scoring games all postseason with defense and late-game heroics, but the Yellow Jackets couldn’t survive a poor shooting performance Thursday night.

Arlington Heights’ run for its first UIL state basketball title ended with a 46-33 loss to Rosenberg Terry in the Class 4A state semifinals at the Erwin Center. Terry (30-9) will face two-time defending state champ Dallas Kimball (23-9) in the final at 3 p.m. Saturday.

The Yellow Jackets (23-12) made only 15 of 50 shots from the field and turned the ball over 19 times en route to a season-low 33 points.

“The first half it was nerves; we were a little shaky, and I think once we got down we didn’t do the things that we have done during this playoff run to be successful,” Arlington Heights coach Jon Wagner said.

Senior forward A‘Shawn Robinson, an Alabama football signee, kept Heights in the game early with 15 points and seven rebounds in the first half. Robinson scored nine of his game-high 17 points during a 11-2 run by the Yellow Jackets over the final three minutes of the second quarter.

Terry didn’t light it up either, struggling to shoot 32 percent from the field, but the Rangers made 10 more free throws and turned the ball over seven fewer times than Heights.

Eugene Wright, a 5-foot-9 guard, grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds to go along with 11 points for Terry. Guard Billy White scored a team-high 13 points and made both of Terry’s 3-pointers.

Rangers star forward Derrick Griffin, a Miami football signee, spent most of the second quarter on the bench with foul trouble, but he finished with nine points, four rebounds and three blocks.

Terry never trailed, led by two points at halftime and by five after three quarters. The Rangers opened the fourth with a 5-0 run to push the lead to 37-27 as Heights failed to score in the first four minutes of the quarter and never recovered.

The loss was a disappointing end for the Yellow Jackets, who matched its deepest playoff run in school history (2011).

“These guys played hard, they were very resilient and it was a fun ride,” Wagner said. “These guys worked really hard every single day, and we won a lot of close games with our defense. I wish we could have put the the ball in the hole a couple more times tonight.”

Jarret Johnson, 817-390-7760 Twitter: @ JohnsonJarret

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