Dallas Kimball regroups after shooting incident on bus, but falls in state semifinals

In less than 24 hours, the Dallas Kimball boys basketball team had to go from statewide media attention it didn’t want to playing in the Class 5A state semifinals at the Alamodome.

Senior forward Kyron Henderson was arrested on two felony gun charges on Wednesday night after a gun he had in his bag discharged and struck a female trainer on the team bus.

The trainer was struck by a bullet in her left ankle and taken to University Hospital in San Antonio for injuries that were not life-threatening.

“Most importantly is the safety of the young lady who was on the bench and able to return to her team,” Dallas schools superintendent Michael Hinojosa said. “Really great for her and her family.”

Only Hinojosa and Kimball coach Nicke Smith were present during the post-game press conference. No questions were taken that were directly about Wednesday night’s incident.

“Also like to thank the San Antonio police department,” Hinojosa said. “They made quick work. I went to bed last night not knowing where we were going to be and they made quick work of it and got this done.”

Henderson, 18, was immediately dismissed from the team. As of Thursday, the 6-foot-7 forward was being held at the Bexar County Jail, about three miles from the Alamodome.

“This is a growing experience for these young men and it’s something they’ll never forget for the rest of their lives,” Hinojosa said about the rest of the team. “Few of them have had much sleep in the past 24 hours.”

Despite all the distractions, Kimball found a way to play a close game and took a fourth-quarter lead before turnovers doomed the Knights.

In a rematch of the 2021 5A state championship, Beaumont United rallied late to beat Kimball for a 66-64 victory to advance to Saturday’s 3 p.m. final against Mansfield Timberview. Kimball (30-9) snapped a seven-year drought to state last season before United won 71-70 in the title game.

“Your chance to see a pretty good game,” Smith said. “I take responsibility there at the end. I didn’t get much sleep in the last 24 hours.”

The Knights were led by 5-star point guard Arterio Morris (Texas).

Morris, who signed with UT in November, finished with 21 points on 9-of-17 shooting, four rebounds and six assists. Morris is nationally ranked as the 19th best player in the 2022 class. He’s also the No. 2 point guard in the country.

Senior shooting guard Trae Clayton chipped in 18 points on 7-of-16 shooting.

Senior Chauncey Gibson, a 3-star Clemson commit, added 10 points.

“The kids played as good as they could there at the start. It was up to me to lead them to the victory,” Smith said.

Kimball led 58-49 at the 3:50 mark of the fourth quarter following a Clayton layup, but that was answered by a three-pointer from United’s Clarence Payia.

The Knights still led by eight on a basket by Dacannon Wickware with 2:35 to go. The Timberwolves scored five straight to get it down to 62-59 with 1:41 remaining.

Leading by one, Kimball committed a turnover and United hit two free throws to grab a 65-64 lead with 16 seconds left. Kimball missed a layup before United hit 1 of 2 at the line.

The Knights had a chance to tie or take the lead with five seconds left, but Kimball committed another turnover as the buzzer sounded.

“Not much sleep, probably like 40 minutes,” Smith said. “I gave everything I had in this game. I just blanked out at the end.”

Hinojosa told Smith that he was a warrior. “It’s been emotional for all of us. But don’t beat yourself up.”

Kimball started on fire with a 14-2 lead with 4:17 left in the first quarter. Morris had one of his several dunks to make it 7-0 that forced United’s first timeout. T’Johnn Brown’s layup pushed it to 14-2 and United had to call a second timeout.

“We were ready and prepared,” Smith said. “We’ve done a great job all the way through the playoffs. It was special because it was Beaumont United and our kids came out on fire and ready to go.”

But the Timberwolves (35-3) came back with a 13-3 run to pull within 17-15. Kimball showed off its athleticism with three straight dunks to lead 23-15 after one.

Wesley Yates III tied the game for United at 25-25 with 4:21 left in the second. The game was squared at 30 heading into intermission. Neither team had a lead greater than three points midway through the third until the Knights scored the final seven to have a 50-43 edge after the period.

This story was originally published March 10, 2022 at 8:39 PM.