Roundup: See scores, more from local girls, boys high school basketball playoff games
The Texas high school basketball playoffs are heating up.
The girls are entering the regional quarterfinals while the boys are beginning their quest for state championship gold with the opening bi-district round. See results, stats and more from area teams.
Boys basketball
Dunbar takes care of business against Venus
The Fort Worth Dunbar boys basketball team shot extremely well and owned the boards against Venus.
And when that happens the Wildcats are extremely hard to stop.
Dunbar broke open a close game with a 15-0 run starting late in the first quarter and rolled to a 90-48 win over the Bulldogs in a Class 4A Region II bi-district game on Tuesday at Burleson High School.
“We played all right, but we really have to get ready for this next game,” said Dunbar coach Swarn Lacy, whose team will have to take on the No. 1 Class 4A team in the state in Dallas Oak Cliff Faith Family (19-11) in the area round later this week. “That’s the most important one. We’re gonna go get in the lab and see what we can cook up and give it our best shot.”
Dunbar (16-11) jumped out to a 13-5 lead using a full-court press that rattled the Bulldogs. But Venus (25-11) battled back to cut the lead to 19-16 with 1:29 left in the first quarter after a basket by Ahmari Mahdi off an assist from Aiden Morales.
That’s as close as the Bulldogs would get, however, as Dunbar’s 15-0 run, spearheaded by Dwight Johnson who scored seven of his game-high 29 points during the spree, pushed the Wildcats’ lead to 38-18 at the 4:17 mark of the second period.
Dunbar went on an 11-0 run later in the second quarter with Jonathan Williams scoring four of his 23 points giving the Wildcats a 53-24 lead with 1:14 left before halftime.
Dunbar had five players in double-figure scoring. Joining Johnson and Williams was Reggie Wilson (14 points), Jonathan McLane (12 and Jeffrey Kirven (10).
Morales led Venus with 16 points and Mahdi added 13 for the Bulldogs.
Haltom narrowly falls to Highland Park
Haltom (21-12) lost its final two district play games and entered the postseason with little momentum. The Buffaloes fell 54-50 to Highland Park in a hardfought loss at Lewisville High School on Tuesday, falling behind in the first quarter and failing to erase the deficit as the game continued.
Highland Park (26-9) kept finding ways to get easy looks in the interior and dominated the offensive boards to create extra scoring opportunities. Haltom head coach Michael Hatch said his team competed hard.
“There were some times they caught us off guard in our zone,” Hatch said of Highland Park. “They were pretty prepared for it, which I knew they would be. They did a good job of capitalizing on some plays. They made more plays than we did when it came down to it.”
Haltom started the first quarter slowly and Highland Park took an early 14-8 lead. Hatch said jitters were partially to blame, considering the majority of his team didn’t have playoff experience on varsity.
“They’ve never been in this kind of spot, for the most part,” Hatch said. “They did a good job of guarding us, though. We’re a good shooting team.”
Highland Park swarmed Oklahoma commit Kuol Atak, forcing him into contested threes. Still, the 6-foot-9 forward was effective from range, hitting two 3-pointers in a row in the third quarter to get the Buffaloes back within striking distance.
In the closing moments, Haltom guard Jihre Smith stole the ball and cut the lead at the foul line to make it a one possession game. Highland Park, however, avoided Haltom’s intentional foul attempts, scoring a layup as time expired.
Arlington Martin stuns Richardson
Arlington Martin (18-16) started the playoffs strong with a 63-61 win over Richardson, capitalizing in the clutch moments to avoid elimination. Martin was led by senior guard William Warren V.
Senior guard RJ Mitchell was also a factor, fighting to keep his high school basketball journey alive with 13 points. Other key contributors were Jayson Mathiesen and Zyion Cato with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Martin will face Lewisville in the area round with a time and location that is to be determined.
Mansfield Summit rallies for win over Birdville
Mansfield Summit used a 15-0 run during the second and third quarters to overtake Birdville and pull away from the Hawks, 64-54, in Class 5A Region 1 bi-district game at Arlington Lamar High School.
Summit (27-7), No. 7 in the state in Class 5A, will play Saginaw (26-8) in the area round later in the week. Saginaw defeated Fort Worth Southwest 49-37 on Tuesday.
Birdville (18-13), the fourth place finisher out of District 7-5A, was lights out from deep in the opening quarter and first half. Birdville hit five 3-pointers in the first eight minutes.
The Hawks led Summit 15-8 after the first quarter. Birdville’s first 18 points all came on threes.
Summit hit 10 threes and went 14 of 27 from the free throw line. The Jags only attempted two free throws in the first half.
Theo Brannan led Summit with 16 points, Derrick Brown added 13 and Jesse Warner chipped in 10 for the Jaguars.
Birdville hit 11 threes and went 9 of 11 from the charity stripe. Sawyer Dotson and Joshua Zakaria led the Hawks with 13 and 12 points, respectively.
Kennedale jumps to early lead, eases past Benbrook
The Kennedale boys basketball team jumped out to an early 11-0 lead and then kept Benbrook at bay the rest of the way in a 71-47 win over the Bobcats in a Class 4A Region II bi-district game on Tuesday at Burleson High School.
Kennedale (29-4), ranked No. 13 in the state in Class 4A by the TABC, advances to face Anna (19-14) in the area round on Friday.
Kennedale coach Doug Groff is wary of his matchup with Anna, feeling that the Coyotes are a top-15 team that is just now hitting their stride. Anna won the Class 4A Division 1 state football title and several football players were late additions to the basketball team.
“They have knocked us out of the playoffs for three years in a row now and they, like us, are finally completely healthy,” said Groff, who had his full team at his disposal for the first time this season after injury and illness kept the Wildcats shuffling players. “It should be a great game.”
Anna defeated Kennedale 57-55 last season, 54-50 in 2022 and 73-68 in 2021 to knock the Wildcats out of the tournament.
Kennedale kept the double-digit lead until early in the third quarter. After Tristan Lewis, who led the Wildcats with 21 points, scored to make it 39-22 with 7:30 left in the third, Benbrook (13-19) made six of seven field goals to pull within nine at 43-34.
But Lewis, Jacoby Lovings (14 points) and Pablo Agosto (20 points) took over from that point and the Wildcats built the lead back to 17 points, 53-36 by the end of the third frame.
Kennedale’s biggest lead came with 3:02 left in the game when a lay in by Agosto made it 69-41.
Jayden Hall led Benbrook with 13 points with Brennan Barton and Corbin Dilday adding 11 points each for the Bobcats.
Keller storms past Weatherford
Keller (27-5) cruised to a 71-47 victory against Weatherford, advancing to the area round. The Indians are the No. 2 ranked Class 6A team in the Fort Worth-area. If Keller and No. 1 ranked North Crowley both win their area round matchups, the two top squads in Fort Worth will face off in the regional quarterfinal.
Keller will face San Angelo Central in the area round, and the game time and location is to be determined.
Senior guard Rhett Schank led the Indians with 19 points while junior Steven Ramirez followed closely behind with 16 points. Senior Kyle Stanislaus got to double digits with 11 points and junior Luke Fabian contributed nine points.
Aledo escapes Arlington Heights
Aledo (20-12) defeated Arlington Heights 48-46 on Tuesday, finishing the fourth quarter strong to advance to the area round. The Bearcats were led by junior point guard Joaquin Pacheco, who tallied a team high 18 points. Aledo senior guard Jackson Todd also had a strong showing with 10 points.
Arlington Heights was powered by junior guard Tristan Flowers’ 13 points, but the solid effort wasn’t enough to secure the victory. Aledo will face Colleyville Heritage in the area round. The game time and location is to be determined.
Girls basketball
Big third quarter lifts Southlake Carroll to win
The Southlake Carroll girls basketball team broke open a close game by outscoring Wolfforth Frenship by 12 points in the third quarter on its way to a 67-46 win over the Tigers in a Class 6A Region I quarterfinal on Tuesday at Abilene Cooper High School.
This will be the fourth season in a row that the Dragons have reached the regional tournament, but No. 15 Carroll (31-5) has lost in the final each year previously.
Carroll will face No. 7 South Grand Prairie (29-3) in the Region I semifinals. The game is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Friday at the Wilkerson-Greines Activity Center in Fort Worth.
The championship will be played at 1 p.m. on Saturday back at the WGAC.
Carroll, which has a 12-game winning streak, was led by the Jordan sisters once again. Milania led all scorers with 23 points, Natalia had 11 and Gianna and Nadia had eight points each.
Taryn Barnes added 10 points for Carroll. No. 19 Frenship (33-4) was paced by Addisyn Bollinger with 18 points and Caitlyn Holt with 12.
Boswell shines from the line to down El Paso Eastwood
The Fort Worth Boswell girls basketball team hit nine of 10 free throws in the final quarter to hold off El Paso Eastwood 47-40 in a Class 6A Region I quarterfinal on Tuesday at Midland Legacy High School.
This will be the first regional tournament appearance for No. 16 Boswell (34-5) since 2018 when the Pioneers were in Class 5A. Boswell was winless in their previous three regional quarterfinal appearances.
Boswell will have a tough draw, having to face No. 2 Hebron (34-2) at 8 p.m. on Friday at the Wilkerson-Greines Activity Center in Fort Worth. Eastwood’s season ends at 27-6.
It was a duel between Boswell sophomore Salena Carrasco and Eastwood’s Abigail Ortega in the fourth quarter. Ortega scored nine of her 15 points in the final frame for the Troopers and Carrasco had eight of her 15 points in the fourth, including hitting three of four from the free throw line.
Boswell hit 17 of 24 attempts from the charity stripe.
Sydney Durrah had 11 points for Boswell and Camille Williams chipped in nine for the Pioneers.
Argyle surges in second half to drub Colleyville Heritage
Argyle senior guard Gabby Campbell missed the first two meetings of the year between the Eagles’ District 7-5A rivals from Colleyville Heritage due to health issues.
Campbell, however, showed up and showed out in the Class 5A Region I quarterfinal at Lewisville High School on Monday scoring 25 points, including six three-pointers, as the Eagles pulled away in the second half for a 65-32 win over the Panthers.
“I knew that she was going to make a big difference,” said Argyle coach Chance Westmoreland. “But where I’m most proud of her is that I challenged her to shut Journee (Hampton) down, their best player who had 34 on us the last time, and Gabby did an outstanding job.
“That’s just the kind of player that she is, an all-state player. She was outstanding defensively and unbelievable offensively too.”
Colleyville Heritage (23-11) came out on fire hitting four three-pointers, from four different players, in the first quarter to take 14-8 lead after one.
But Argyle (33-5), the No. 12 ranked team in Class 5A by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches, got its passing game going along with Campbell, who hit three three-pointers in the second quarter, to start pulling away.
Journee Hampton, who led the Panthers with 11 points, hit one of her three threes to start the third quarter and cut the lead to 23-22. But CH didn’t score again in the quarter until a basket by Samari Stevenson with 26 seconds left that made it 39-24 Argyle.
“Gabby carried us all night and we got some other kids going,” said Westmoreland, whose team had 17 assists and just seven turnovers on the night. “Just a team effort and a team win and I’m very proud of this group of girls.”
Argyle outscored the Panthers 24-8 in the fourth quarter.
“When I was sick and wasn’t able to play it was hard, but I think it was a good thing,” said Campbell. “Getting to watch my team play when I wasn’t able to let me see what they were going to need when I did come back.”
Colleyville Heritage was without one of its key players this time around as Suli Davis, who averages 10 points and 10 rebounds per game, and her sister Onita Davis missed the game due to a club volleyball event in Kansas City.
Suli, a junior, has committed to play volleyball at Brigham Young University and is one of the nation’s top volleyball players in the Class of 2025.
Landry Murphy added 11 points for Argyle and Kennedy Hafer chipped in nine.
Argyle will face either No. 17 Amarillo Tascosa (25-6) or Lubbock-Cooper (25-9) in the Region I semifinals on Friday at 6 p.m. at the Yeager Coliseum in Wichita Falls.
“I knew our team was going to be ready because we prepared for this,” said Campbell. “I think we’re playing our best basketball right now and we want to get as far as we can.”
Mansfield Timberview downs Denton Ryan
Mansfield Timberview, The TABC’s No. 1 ranked Class 5A team, is dominating the early rounds of the playoffs.
Timberview (37-1) throttled Denton Ryan 64-44 on Monday at Keller Central High School in a regional quarterfinal playoff game. The Lady Wolves took a 21-6 first quarter lead and proceeded to take a 40-9 lead into halftime.
Ryan (30-8) was overwhelmed by the Timberview lead and never recovered. Junior forward Brooklyn Terry led the way for head coach Kit Martin’s Lady Wolves, scoring 17 points.
Senior guard Crishawn Coleman and senior guard Kamryn Wilson were also key contributors with 11 points each.
Duncanville rolls over Mansfield Lake Ridge
Class 6A No. 5 Duncanville defeated District 11-6A foe Mansfield Lake Ridge 72-33 to earn a spot in the Region II tournament where the Pantherettes will face No. 9 Cypress Springs (30-2) at 5:30 p.m. on Friday at Lufkin High School.
All four teams from 11-6A reached the regional quarterfinals. No. 1 DeSoto (25-5) will face Cedar Hill (22-14) on Tuesday.
It was the third lopsided victory for Duncanville (31-4) over Lake Ridge (20-16) this season. The Pantherettes won 74-42 on December 19 and 70-49 on January 23. Lake Ridge only scored nine points in the first two quarters against Duncanville on Monday.
Chloe Mann had 22 points for Duncanville to lead all scorers. Laila Coleman added 19 and Mariah Clayton had 16 for the Pantherettes.
Jazman Bailey scored 13 points for the Eagles with Joy Egbuna chipping in 11.
This story was originally published February 19, 2024 at 11:41 PM.
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