Basketball playoff recap: Duncanville ends Martin’s season; Covenant reaches final
GIRLS
Duncanville 66, Arlington Martin 49
Martin entered Friday night with a 35-4 record. Its 35 wins were a school record. And an appearance in the Class 6A Region 1 tournament was a first in program history.
But the Lady Warriors ran into the gauntlet known as Duncanville, the top-ranked 6A team in the state.
Duncanville (37-3) defeated Martin, 66-49, in a regional semifinal game at Wilkerson-Greines Activity Center.
Head coach Brooke Brittain held back tears during her post-game interview.
“I missed a year with them,” said Brittain, who was deployed in the Middle East during the 2017-18 season. “I told my seniors I’m glad I got to finish with them and I’m so proud of them. The whole team brought me so much joy this year. They’re fun to be around. They’re competitiors and have tremendous character.
“I thanked them and said how much I appreciate them. I enjoyed being with them everyday and this journey.”
Martin (35-5) started the game off with a 3-pointer from Diavian Spencer, but Duncanville went ahead 20-9 on a Hope Lemelle 3-point play. The Pantherettes then led 35-21 on Leila McLeod’s 3-point play, but the Lady Warriors scored the final six points of the half to bring the deficit to eight at intermission.
“We dug a hole early with some silly transition buckets, but we felt good fighting back,” Brittain said. “We just didn’t come out with a strong third quarter.”
Duncanville, which meets Cedar Hill in Saturday’s regional final, went on a 14-1 run to take a 21-point lead in the third quarter. It outscored the Lady Warriors 20-7 in the period to take a 55-34 edge into the fourth.
Five-star All-American Deja Kelly (North Carolina) led Duncanville with 16 points. Martin junior Mariah Roberts led all scorers with 17 points.
Mansfield Timberview 53, Wichita Falls Rider 48
For the fourth straight season, the No. 5 Lady Wolves are playing in the regional final after they took down Rider in a Region 1 semifinal at Western Texas College in Snyder.
Timberview (30-8) will look to clinch a state berth for the third time in four years, but it will have to go through a familiar playoff foe in No. 1 Amarillo at 2 pm on Saturday.
The Lady Sandies are two-time defending champs. They beat Timberview in the regional final last season, 47-45 and in the 2018 state title game, 59-54.
BOYS
Colleyville Covenant 92, FM Coram Deo 50
The Covenant Cougars will be looking for their first boys basketball state championship since 2005 after they dismantled Coram Deo on Friday in Waco.
They’ll play in the TAPPS 4A state title game at 1:30 pm at West.
Covenant outscored Coram Deo 15-3 in the first quarter, then scored 29 points in the second.
Four Cougars scored in double figures led by 29 from Graham Stiefel.
Austin Scheets added 19, Caleb Turner scored 14 and Nemo Salas-Connor chipped in 12.
Dallas Lincoln 59, FW Dunbar 46
No. 12 Dallas Lincoln controlled the boards, rarely allowing No. 10 Fort Wort Dunbar a second shot, in the Tigers’ 59-46 win in a Class 4A area-round game Friday at Grand Prairie High School.
Dunbar (18-11) led 2-0 on a basket by Chris George and 4-2 on two free throws from Jacob Keys, but never led again.
The Wildcats didn’t pick up an offensive rebound until the 6:02 mark of the second period.
That allowed Lincoln (19-16) to go on a 17-3 run to lead 19-7 with 7:50 left before the half. Lincoln’s largest lead, 19 points, came at the 6:01 mark of the third quarter on a put-back basket by Brandon Cotton, giving the Tigers a 43-24 lead.
Cotton led Lincoln with 19 points.
George led all scorers with 20 points. Keys chipped in 10.
Lincoln advances to the 4A Region II regional quarterfinals and will meet No. 3 Oak Cliff Faith Family (21-13) who defeated Wilmer-Hutchins 62-60.
District 5-5A
Burleson Centennial, Mansfield Timberview, Mansfield Legacy and Arlington Seguin helped the district’s record to 8-0 through the first two rounds of the playoffs.
Centennial fought off a late fourth-quarter rally by Brewer to win a Region 1 area championship at Aledo. Timberview, the defending state champ, won on Thursday while Legacy took down 7-5A champ Colleyville Heritage at Arlington.
Seguin, which upset state-ranked and 6-5A champ Wyatt in bi-district, defeated Ryan.
It’s the first time to the quarterfinal round for Centennial, which won the district, in program history. Legacy and Seguin advance to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2013.
Centennial and Seguin will meet 7 pm Tuesday at Mansfield HS. Legacy and Timberview will play 6:30 pm Tuesday at Lake Ridge.
This story was originally published February 28, 2020 at 10:18 PM.
