Northwest ends Brewer’s magic; Timberview, Duncanville, Trinity also advance
Northwest coach Travis Edwards was asked by his wife on Monday if he had anything up his sleeve for Tuesday’s game with Brewer.
“It’s hard to put something together for Brewer especially in practice,” Edwards said. “But we were able to do it. Our guys are smart enough.”
With the game tied at 43 and under a minute to play, Edwards called for a trap by Avery Anderson and Ja Rankin. Rankin was able to poke the ball away and the two finished the 2-on-1 for a 45-43 lead.
Rankin laid in the biggest shot of his career as the Texans rallied from a 10-point deficit to end Brewer’s historic season, 47-43 in a 5A Region I quarterfinal game at Coppell.
“They were turning their backs on the trap and I thought if he does it again, I can get the steal,” Rankin said. “I didn’t expect to shoot it, but it was a big time shot and I had to trust myself and I made it.”
The Texans (29-7), who are ranked No. 6 in 5A, clinch a spot in the region tournament in Snyder for the third-straight season.
“Brewer came out with fire in the first half, but coaches told us to dig deep if we wanted to win and we came out in the second half and played our game,” said Anderson, who scored a game-high 22 points. “Ja is a hard worker and defense wins games, and I had to reward him.”
No. 13 Brewer, which was in the quarterfinals for the first time since 1990, took a 25-18 lead into intermission and extended it to 10 following a 3-pointer by Aaron Lelek, who leads Dallas-Fort Worth in threes this season.
The Bears led 32-24 after Devin Avent was fouled on a made layup, but the Texans cut it to 35-30 after three quarters. An Anthony Davis three gave Brewer a 38-33 lead with 6:54 left before Northwest came back. Sammie Freeman scored eight of his 12 in the fourth quarter.
Brewer finishes 29-5, which is a program record for wins in a season. Cortland Blake led with 13 points. Avent scored 10 while Lelek hit three 3-pointers.
“The boys have played hard all year long. I just feel real disappointed for them. I wish I could’ve done more,” Brewer coach Jason Porostovsky said. “I thought we had a great game plan and we followed it, but Northwest is just a fantastic team.”
Northwest will play Amarillo Palo Duro, 4 p.m. on Friday at Western Texas College.
Euless Trinity 58, North Crowley 55
Andre Nunley took over in the fourth quarter for Trinity, scoring 13 of his 24 points as the Trojans stunned No. 3 North Crowley 58-55 in a 6A Region I quarterfinal at Wilkerson-Greines Activity Center.
The Trojans, who face No. 1 Duncanville, 6 p.m. Friday at WGC, reach the regional tourney for the first time since going to state in 1996.
Timberview 52, The Colony 35
Trazarien White scored 13 of his game-high 21 in the first half as the No. 3 Wolves dispatched the Cougars in 5A Region I quarterfinal game at Irving MacArthur.
The Wolves (34-2) will face Lubbock Monterey (29-8) at 6 p.m. on Friday in Snyder.
Marquiss Childs and Tristan Starks added nine apiece for Timberview, which is headed to the regional tourney for the second time in three years.
Ducanville 61, DeSoto 60 OT
Micah Peavy hit 1 of 2 free throws with 1.6 seconds left in overtime as Class 6A No. 1 Duncanville survived past No. 12 DeSoto in a Region I quarterfinal game at Wilkerson-Greines Activity Center.
Chris Pryor of DeSoto (30-8) had hit both free throws with four seconds left to tie the game at 60, but a foul by the Eagles in the front court allowed Peavy to go to the line for Ducanville (28-7), which advances to the regional tourney for the first time since 2009.
Jahmius Ramsey led all scorers with 29 for the Panthers with Peavy adding 13 and Ja’Bryant Hill with 12. Jarius Hicklen led DeSoto with 13 points.
