Holiday hoops recap (12/30): Whataburger, Mansfield ISD and more from Fort Worth area

Boys

Richardson 60, Duncanville 58 OT

The Eagles and Panthers lived up to the hype to close out the Whataburger Orange tournament on Thursday night at Mansfield Legacy HS.

Duncanville, No. 1 in Class 6A, had a good look at the game-winning 3-pointer, but the attempt was off as Richardson, No. 2, won the championship. Duncanvile beat Richardson in the state semifinals last season on its way to the 6A state title.

Richardson 5-star guard Cason Wallace was voted tourney MVP with 22 points. Wallace is Kentucky bound and rated the No. 1 player in Texas.

The Eagles trailed 36-30 after Duncanville’s Ashton Hardaway, the son of former NBA all-star Penny Hardaway, banked in a three with 3:53 left in the third quarter. Richardson closed out the period with nine straight points to grab a 39-36 lead.

The Eagles extended the run to 12-2 early in the fourth, but the Panthers got a spark when 5-star combo guard Anthony Black checked in for the first time all tournament. Black came to Duncanville this year from Coppell and has had a back-and-forth battle with the UIL for his eligibility.

Initial word was that Black got cleared and was able to enter in the fourth quarter. Wallace gave Richardson the 52-50 lead with seconds to go, but Duncanville star Ron Holland drove in, missed his first attempt, got the rebound and put it back to tie the game with four seconds on the clock.

Wallace had a great look at the basket to end regulation, but missed a layup. Duncanville led by two in the extra period until Richardson 4-star guard and Alabama bound Rylan Griffen tied it at 56 with two minutes left.

The game was tied at 58 and Wallace made 1 of 2 at the line to give the Eagles a 59-58 lead with 45 seconds to go. Duncanville missed an attempt and Tre Howell added another free throw with 3.6 seconds.

Van Alstyne 35, Argyle 32

Argyle missed the game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer as Van Alstyne hung on to win and capture the championship title at the Whataburger Boys Blue Division on Thursday at Chisholm Trail HS.

In an defensive effort, both teams were tied at 27-27 midway through the fourth quarter and again at 29 on a Eli Valentino layup.

“Love kids that play defense and our kids will do that,” Argyle coach Russell Perkins said. “I know everybody wants everyone to score over 100, but when every possession counts like this, I think it values the game so much more and that’s what it came down to. They had one more shot go in than us and that was the only difference.”

Argyle, which went 32-1 and won the 4A state title last season, led 30-29 on a free throw by Wayne Pritts, but VA went up 31-30 on a Carson Brown contested layup with 1:24 left in the fourth.

JJ Boling knocked down four free throws for the Panthers, the last giving VA a 35-32 lead. Argyle had a chance to tie it at the line, but made just one to pull within 33-32 with 3.5 left. Boling’s last free throw came with 2.2 to play before Argyle’s final play.

Boling had 20 points for VA and was named tourney MVP. Argyle was led by Jayson Demcher’s 16 points. Demcher, Valentino and Hutch Burns were named to the all-tournament team.

“We graduated 10 from last season’s state championship team so we had little experience coming in, but playing teams of this quality, I hope it gets us ready for a tough district schedule,” Perkins said. “But it’s been fun to watch our kids grow.”

Garland Lakeview Centennial 54, Colleyville Heritage 52

Leading by three points entering the fourth quarter, the Heritage Panthers couldn’t quite hang on in the final day of the Lakeview Centennial Holiday Shootout on Thursday.

Centennial outscored Heritage 21-16 in the final period to get the win at home.

Sammon Johnson led all scorers with 18 for the Panthers. Tristan Strength added 11.

Round Rock 73, Keller 62

Wyatt Bell scored 26 points for the Keller Indians, but host Round Rock pulled out the victory and third place during the final day of the Robert Memorial Tournament.

Keller led by two at intermission, but Round Rock was able to outscore the Indians 45-32 in the second half.

Blake Bahr added nine points for Keller while three other Indians finished with seven.

Mansfield Timberview 72, Waxahachie 69

Jared Washington and Donovan O’Day poured in a combined 54 points and the Wolves beat the Indians for third place at the Whataburger Orange tournament on Thursday at Mansfield Legacy.

Washington and O’Day both hit two threes in the first quarter to help Timberview, ranked No. 3 in Class 5A, to a 32-15 lead. O’Day scored 16 of his 25 points in the opening period. Washington added 13 of his 29 points in the first frame.

Waxahachie, which had four players in double figures, used a 10-2 run in the second quarter to get within single digits. V’Zarion Roberson led the Indians with 15 points.

Timberview led 49-35 at intermission.

The Indians scored the first four points of the final quarter to get within seven. Washington’s dunk gave the Wolves a 68-63 lead with two minutes left that helped spark Timberview to finish strong.

Girls

Peaster 64, Jim Ned 48

The Greyhounds were lights out from downtown in handing Jim Ned its first loss of the season and clinching the championship trophy of the Whataburger Girls Division on Thursday at Saginaw HS.

“Jim Ned is a quality program year in and year out. We did a great job making shots early and getting stops down the stretch. We made plays when it counted,” Peaster coach Garrett Hilton said. “I’ll go with these girls every day of the week.”

Peaster, No. 12 in Class 3A, hit 10 three-pointers. Landry Robertson hit Peaster’s third three and Bosher hit the fourth three to get the Greyhounds up 15-9 in the first quarter.

Jim Ned, No. 3 in 3A, scored the first six points of the second quarter to pull within 20-16. ACU commit Payton Hull connected on a 3-point play to get Peaster up eight. Her lefty layup made it 10 and the Greyhounds led 31-23 at intermission.

Peaster grew the lead to 18 in the third quarter and a three from Meghan Smith had the Greyhounds rolling in the fourth.

“It was difficult for them. We were making our shots, a lot of them and our defense was great and we played them tight,” Hull said.

Miranda Smith and Bosher were named to the all-tournament team while Hull was named all-tourney MVP.

Bosher went 6 of 7 from the line and hit three 3-pointers for a game-high 24 points. Hull added 21 points and Meghan Smith finished with nine.

“Jim Ned is tough, but we’re a solid team too. We push the ball and finish, make shots from the outside. We have girls all around that can score,” Bosher said. “Coach always tells us don’t rely on the 3-pointer. He says go get fouled, make a free throw, make a layup, take the easy shot and make the right play.”

Texarkana Liberty-Eylau 57, Arlington Bowie 54

Bowie took a 44-40 lead into the fourth quarter, but couldn’t hold off Liberty-Eylau and Sam Houston State commit Bryana Block in the consolation third-place game at the Mansfield ISD Spring Creek Invitational.

Block scored seven of her game-high 21 points in the fourth quarter as the Lady Leopards out scored the Volunteers 17-10 in the period. Block had three 3-pointers and was four of six from the free throw line.

Taryn Perkins led Bowie (10-13) with 16 points. Seniya Wilson and Alaisha Brown had nine each for the Vols.

Marble Falls 51, Huntsville 43

Huntsville (14-8) led by two points at the half, but Marble Falls sophomore post Lexie Edwards took over in the second half to lift the Mustangs to the consolation championship at the Mansfield ISD Spring Creek Invitational.

Edwards scored 10 of her team-high 18 points after the half and eight in the third quarter for Marble Falls (15-8).

All-tournament selection Tea Rodriguez scored 10 points for the Mustangs. Alyiah Craft, also and all-tourney pick, carried the Hornets scoring 28 points.

The difference in the game came at the free throw line where Marble Falls made 12 of 18 while Huntsville struggled hitting only nine of 26.

Pflugerville 58, Hebron 55

Hebron tried to overcome a seven-point deficit entering the fourth quarter against 5A No. 11 Pflugerville, but the Panthers were able to hold off the Hawks in the seventh place game of the Mansfield ISD Spring Creek Invitational.

Paris Bradley, who made the all-tournament team, scored nine of her game-high 21 points in the fourth quarter to fuel the comeback for Hebron (13-8).

Avari Berry led Pflugerville (20-4) with 20 points while Jordynn Watts and Jaida Gomez had 14 and 11 points respectively for the Panthers. Berry was an all-tournament selection.

Jordan Thomas added 14 points for the Hawks.

South Grand Prairie 48, Amarillo 45

University of North Texas commit Jahcelyn Hartfield hit two big 3-pointers as part of her eight points in the third quarter as South Grand Prairie rallied to win fifth place at the Mansfield ISD Spring Creek Invitational.

Amarillo (17-4), the No. 4 ranked team in Class 5A, held a slim 26-23 lead at the break behind McKenzie Smith, who had a game-high 19 points.

Hartfield helped the Warriors built a 37-32 after three periods, but the Sandies came back. Two made free throws by Victoria Barrera with 5:35 left pulled Amarillo to within 39-38.

But South Grand Prairie (18-4), No. 8 in 6A, answered with back-to-back 3-pointers from Cedraiah Peterson and Taylor Barnes to push the lead up to 45-38 at the 4:06 mark and the Sandies never recovered.

Hartfield finished with a team-high 10 points for SGP. Victoria Dixon was named to the all-tournament team for the Warriors.

Smith made the all-tourney team for Amarillo and Barrera finished with 10 points for the Sandies.

North Little Rock (AR) 41, Mansfield Legacy 34

When Mansfield Legacy has been close late in games at the Mansfield ISD Spring Creek Invitational, the Broncos have more often than not found ways to pull out the win.

Legacy played neck and neck with North Little Rock, the third-ranked team from Arkansas in Class 6A, but the Broncos faltered in the fourth quarter in a battle for third place.

The game was close throughout and Legacy (13-9) took a 26-24 lead into the final eight minutes. But the Broncos started the fourth quarter with three turnovers and two missed shots while North Little Rock (12-2) was riding a 9-0 run.

Legacy cut the lead to four points twice later in the final stanza, the second on a pair of free throws by all-tournament selection Savannah Catalon, but couldn’t complete the comeback.

The Broncos struggled with the height and size of Wildcats’ forward, and Vanderbilt commit, Amauri Williams. Williams finished with a game-high 16 points and had two big blocked shots in the fourth quarter on her way to an all-tournament selection.

April Edwards add 10 points for NLR. Sirviva Legions was stellar again for Legacy with 14 points while Catalon and Maddie Griggs (two 3’s) had nine each for the Broncos.

Little Elm Braswell 61, Frisco Memorial 49

Little Elm Braswell raced out to an early lead and held on to it throughout as the Bengals defeated Frisco Memorial in the championship game of the Mansfield ISD Spring Creek Invitational.

Braswell (22-2), No. 12 in Class 6A, could do little wrong in the first quarter as the Lady Bengals raced out to a 22-8 lead. Kennedy Evans, an all-tournament selection, tossed in three 3-pointers in the opening frame and finished with 15 points.

Memorial (20-5), No. 6 in 5A, did battle back in the second quarter to cut the lead to seven points behind Jasmyn Lott, a University of Nevada, Las Vegas commit. Jasmyn Lott (16 points) and younger sister Falyn Lott (8) both made the all-tournament team for the Warriors.

Tournament Most Valuable Player and LSU commit Alisa Williams led the Bengals as Braswell regained a double-digit lead in the third quarter where it stayed the rest of the game. Williams led all scorers with 18 points and Grambling commit Jazmyne Jackson, who also made the all-tourney squad, chipped in 14 points.

Brynn Lusby had 15 points for Memorial.

This story was originally published December 30, 2021 at 7:24 PM.