Roundup: Colleyville Heritage escapes Brewer plus more from regional quarterfinals
The Texas high school boys basketball playoffs have entered the regional quarterfinals.
Check back here for scores, stats and other inside looks at the Fort Worth-area’s top games. Which teams are continuing their quests for state championship gold?
Anna holds off Eastern Hills in Class 4A quarterfinal
The Fort Worth Eastern Hills boys basketball team battled back from 10 points down early in the third quarter to take the lead, but Anna rallied then held off the Highlanders 53-50 in a Class 4A Region II quarterfinal on Tuesday at Hebron High School.
Anna (21-14) has been a giant killer of late taking down No. 2 Eastern Hills as well as No. 13 Kennedale last week. The Coyotes will get another chance when they face No. 4 Dallas Carter (30-5) at the 4A Region II tournament in the second semifinal at 8 p.m. on Friday at Texas A&M University-Commerce.
I was a close, back-and-forth game for most of the first half, but Anna stretched the lead to eight at the break on a three by Brandon Webber. The Coyotes went up 35-25 on a put back by Webber with 5:55 left in the third quarter.
But Eastern Hills (29-5) clawed its way back. The Highlanders regained the lead and the momentum when Messiah Miller tossed up an alley oop to Dorian Johnson whose thunderous dunk energized the EH faithful and gave the Highlanders a 46-45 lead with 4:46 left.
Eastern Hills went up 50-47 on another Miller-Johnson combination for a lay in with 3:21 left, but the Highlanders wouldn’t score again.
A basket, steal by Anna, and another basket gave the Coyotes a 51-50 lead and after a missed field goal by Eastern Hills, the Highlanders were forced to foul.
Four fouls were called in a row on Eastern Hills, but before the Highlanders could get the fifth foul to stop the clock and send Anna to the free throw line, Anna’s Charles Johnson got a lay in on an assist from Webber to make it 53-50 with nine seconds left.
Eastern Hills got off a last shot from just beyond the three-point arc, but the ball hit the front of the rim and bounced away.
“We just couldn’t get the 50-50 balls,” said Eastern Hills coach Melvin Miller, who will have his entire team back next season playing this campaign with eight juniors and three sophomores. “We just couldn’t rebound the ball. When you give them ample opportunities to get a bucket then that’s kind of what happens. You just have to box and and rebound.”
Anna is playing its best basketball of the season according to Coyotes’ coach Kyle Phifer. After getting back five players off of its state championship football team in late December and finally having them healty the team has jelled and is playing at a very high level.
“We were No. 8 in the state last year and reached the quarterfinals, but we ran into Faith Family,” said Phifer. “We returned eight of ten players and with everyone at full speed we’re peaking at just the right time.”
Oak Cliff Faith Family has been to the state tournament for five consecutive seasons, winning three times, and is the two-time defending Class 4A champions. If the Coyotes get past Carter, Faith Family will likely be waiting for Anna in the regional final.
Eastern Hills was attempting to equal the furthest any boys basketball team had advanced in the state playoffs. In 2017 the Highlanders lost in the regional semifinals to El Paso Burges.
“We have everybody coming back so we’re looking forward to getting back out there next year the same way,” said Miller. “With high expectations as normal and we just have to get better, especially with the little things. This one’s going to sting for a long time and we definitely have to learn from this.”
Colleyville Heritage escapes Brewer
Colleyville Heritage narrowly defeated Brewer on Tuesday at Burleson High School, recording a 40-39 victory.
Colleyville Heritage had an abysmal start to the game with a two point first quarter. Brewer, on the other hand, started extremely strong with a 15 point quarter.
Heritage slowly but steadily erased the Brewer lead, and found themselves in a position to take the lead in the fourth quarter. Heritage’s Tim Finau tallied a team high 15 points, leading the way.
Brewer’s Julian Perez led the way for the Bears, recording a game high 21 points that was ultimately not enough. Colleyville Heritage will face Chapin the regional semifinals in Wichita Falls on Friday.
Mansfield Summit throttles Denton Ryan
You don’t often see teams getting trounced in the regional quarterfinals, but Mansfield Summit managed to take care of business in dominant fashion.
Summit (27-8) defeated Denton Ryan 50-28 to advance to a Class 5A regional semifinal at the Thomas Coliseum on Tuesday. Summit’s Theo Brannan and Derrick Brown combined for 26 points, leading the way.
Ian Sedah was also a key contributor, scoring 10 points. Mansfield Summit will face Amarillo in the regional semifinals in Wichita Falls on Friday.
Decatur handles Glen Rose
Decatur’s Javen Colbert is a special talent, and he is powering the Eagles to a deep playoff run.
Decatur (25-11) defeated Glen Rose 71-56 in a regional quarterfinal playoff game at Weatherford High School on Monday. Colbert followed up two consecutive 40 plus point performances with another monster showing, scoring a team high 34 points.
“It was a war,” Decatur head coach Rob Yeatts said of the game. “A good, old fashioned street fight with two teams going at it. Glen Rose is a tough, well coached team. They are here for a reason. They beat a great team in Burkburnett.”
Colbert was the focal point of the offense, and Glen Rose’s defense threw everything they could at him. The Tigers were unsuccessful. Yeatts credited Colbert for working hard and being a team leader.
“He is a good kid,” Yeatts said. “He gets it done. He puts in the work. At the end of the day in Texas basketball, big time players step up in big time moments. They put their team on their back and they go get it done.”
The Glen Rose offense was extremely patient in the first quarter, waiting for opportune times to pass inside or take a shot. Decatur applied pressure to ballhandlers, forcing them to speed up the pace.
“We didn’t want them to be comfortable,” Yeatts said. “We were trying to get up in them. Make them a drive and kick team. We didn’t want them cutting and screening. That’s what they like to. I thought we were able to take that away.”
At the half, Decatur led 27-19 thanks to a buzzer beating three pointer from Colbert. The junior superstar stayed composed, banking in the shot from near half court.
Decatur added to its lead in the third quarter and continued to pull away in the fourth, stopping the Glen Rose offense from increasing its tempo. Decatur guars Adan Gonzalez was a key contributor, tallying 16 points.
Glen Rose had four players in double figures: Junior Zeke Ziedziela, senior Thomas De La Cruz, junior Camden Singletary and junior Colton Andress. The Tigers were playing in a regional quarterfinal for the first time since the 2009 season.
Decatur, in the regional semifinals, will face Amarillo West Plains or Canyon, depending on the two team’s quarterfinal game on Tuesday. Decatur will play at Lubbock Christian on Friday with a tip off time that is to be determined.
“We just have to keep being us,” Yeatts said. “One game at a time. We take the highs and the lows. That’s what we’ve done all year. We’re an underrated, underdog team. We were picked fourth in our district. We lost our best two players last year. We’ve carried that chip on our shoulder.”
Lake Ridge gets hot late to eliminate Waxahachie
The Mansfield Lake Ridge boys basketball team played back and forth with District 11-6A rival Waxahachie for three quarters then outscored the Indians by 15 points in the final frame to take a 78-63 win in Class 6A Region II quarterfinal in a packed gymnasium at Midlothian High School.
Lake Ridge (30-6), No. 14 in the state in Class 6A according to the TABC, advances to its first regional tournament in school history and will face the Houston Cypress Ranch (25-11)-No. 20 The Woodlands College Park (33-4) winner in the semifinals at 7:30 p.m. on Friday at Lufkin High School.
The game was filled with end-to-end action and was witnessed by a large crowed hanging on every point waiting to explode. Both student sections were spirited as well and the teams gave the crowd a tremendous show hitting huge shots at key times.
“What a game,” said Lake Ridge coach Cornelius Mitchell. “What a game for the fans, what a game for everybody. We just got lucky enough in the fourth quarter.”
With the scored tied at 58, Lake Ridge scored the first nine points of the final period to force No. 12 Waxahachie (23-11) to call a time out. Matthew Alexander hit a field goal and Amir McMillian, buried a three and both followed with a pair of free throws as the Eagles pushed the lead to 67-58 with 4:46 left in the game.
The Indians hit only one of 14 shots from the floor in the fourth quarter, including zero of six from beyond the arc. Lake Ridge, on the other hand was six of nine from the floor and hit seven of seven free throws in the fourth quarter.
The Eagles went 17 of 21 from the charity stripe on the night.
Lake Ridge jumped out to a 10-3 lead on a six-foot jumper in the lane by McMillian, who led the Eagles with a game-high 18 points.
Waxahachie, which had defeated Lake Ridge by six points both times in district play, rallied behind a pair of threes by Trae Nunn and King Grace to take a 13-12 lead with 3:01 left in the first quarter.
“We had been hearing all week that it’s hard to beat a team three times in the same year,” said Mitchell. “But I told the kids that it’s not really that hard to beat a team three times if you’re not tougher, better, and more locked in. Tonight we were just more locked in and more focused than we had been the last two.”
The game went back and forth from that point until late in the first half when the Indians took a 10-point lead, 41-31. Isayah Pankey had back-to-back threes to cap the 9-0 run for Hachie.
But the Eagles cut the lead to 41-36 at the half when McMillian buried one of his four three-pointers and Ahmare Rose, who finished with 13 points, got a put back with 10 seconds remaining before the break.
The Eagles did a great job of limiting Waxahachie’s 6-9 forward, Parker Jefferson, to just 13 points on the night.
“That was a key,” said Mitchell of Jefferson, the 14th ranked player in the state in the Class of 2025. “We knew that if he got going and got 20 points that they were going to be hard to beat. So our style of play, up and down, wore him down and we made him guard different actions to get him away from the paint and I think got to him a little bit.”
Grace, the fourth-ranked player in the state in the Class of 2025 and the fourth-ranked shooting guard nationally, led the Indians with 16 points followed by Pankey with 14.
Alexander finished with 17 points for Lake Ridge with Eze Nwakamma adding 14 for the Eagles, who finished 3rd in District 11-6A. Waxahachie was co-district champions with Duncanville.
“We’re relentless,” said Mitchell of his team. “We don’t care who you are. We’re going to come in and fight for four quarters and throw a lot of punches and hopefully one of them gets you.”
This story was originally published February 26, 2024 at 10:31 PM.
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