Dragons facing convoluted path to playoffs

Carroll boys basketball coach Eric McDade has stressed the significance of the parity in his district throughout the season, and nowhere has that proven to be a bigger factor than as the playoffs approach.

There were four teams vying for the final three playoff spots in the district heading into Tuesday night's game, and the chances of proceeding to the postseason without at least one play-in game are pretty slim.

The Dragons picked up a very important victory on Friday night on the road at Haltom that could prove to be key once all of the dust is settled.

“I think that the main thing for us against Haltom was that we got healthy,” McDade said. “We had a starter out against Colleyville Heritage, but still managed to battle well. We got all of our guys back against Haltom. We had to good practices prior to the game against them, and we knew that it was going to a be a big game with playoff implications, and the kids came out and responded.

“Haltom had a packed gym. It was a playoff atmosphere, a very hostile environment, and our kids really responded well and stepped up our game.”

Carroll defeated Haltom 50-40 to improved to 5-6 in district competition heading into Friday's must-win game against L.D. Bell.

There were still multiple scenarios in which Carroll, Coppell, Trinity and Colleyville Heritage can all make the playoffs, though no one has clinched a particular spot yet.

The Dragons are one of the teams that would have to play a play-in game regardless of whether they beat L.D. Bell on Tuesday and the other teams lost.

However, even with a victory, if Colleyville Heritage can upset Richland, the Dragons would be eliminated.

McDade said he is not focused on any of that, but said it is fitting.

“All we know right now is that we are going to go in and play the best game we can against Bell,” McDade said last weekend. “Regardless of the scenarios, you want to be playing the last game of the season with the chance to make the playoffs, and you want to be playing really well in that game.

“Even if you are playing in a play-in game or playoff game, you want to play well ... and let all of the other stuff take care of itself.”

McDade said it has been a very fun year for him and his team and said that he is very impressed with the way his players have fought through adversity.

The Carroll coach said that regardless of how things unfold, he is pleased with the way his team is competing as the playoffs approach.

“What we found out the other day against Haltom is that a father came up to me and told me ‘you've got get RBI's,’” McDade said. “That's rebounds back in, and from that standpoint, that is part of our game that has really improved this last half of district. In the first half, if we shot it well, then we were tough.

“If we didn't shoot it well, we were in trouble, because we did not get the offensive rebounds. So now, we're rebounding. We're piecing things together, and the guys have really stepped that up.”

This story was originally published February 16, 2015 at 4:01 PM with the headline "Dragons facing convoluted path to playoffs."