Boys state semifinals: Which Texas high schools will compete in championship games?
The 2024 UIL boys high school basketball state tournament is here.
Thursday’s games at the Alamodome in San Antonio included the Class 1A, Class 3A and Class 5A state semifinals with the Class 2A, Class 4A and Class 6A semis on Friday. Check back here for updates, stats, recaps and more.
Plano East keeps perfect season alive, defeats Lake Ridge
No. 1 Plano East defeated Mansfield Lake Ridge 61-45 to advance to a Class 6A state championship at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday. The Panthers dominated the glass, winning the total rebounding battle 40-22 and securing nine offensive rebounds.
For more in depth coverage of the game, click here.
Stony Point holds on for No. 1 vs. No. 2 match up in 6A final
Round Rock Stony Point’s only loss of the season come on December 30 against Plano East. The Tigers will get a shot to return the favor on Saturday night at 8:30 p.m. after No. 2 Stony Point held off No. 9 Beaumont United 54-46 in a Class 6A state semifinal on Friday at the Alamodome.
No. 1 Plano East (39-0) defeated Stony Point (38-1) by a score of 55-50 in the Championship Basketball Tournament in Mansfield and the Tigers hope to return the favor at another neutral site...the Alamodome.
Stony Point is playing in its first state tournament in its 24-year school history.
No. 9 United (34-4) held on to a tenuous lead for much of the first half and after a dunk by Malachi Anderson the Timberwolves pushed it to 19-14. But then Stony Point’s Josiah Moseley went off.
Moseley scored 10 points of a 12-0 run by the Tigers that vaulted Stony Point into the lead at 26-19 with 22 seconds left in the half. Moseley finished with 19 points for the Tigers.
United closed it to 26-21 at the break with a pair of Daniel Williams free throws.
Stony Point’s lead reached eight points, 32-24, with 5:11 left in the third quarter on a lay in by Uzziah Buntyn, who also finished with 19 points for the Tigers, but then United stormed back.
A 12-4 run by the Timberwolves, sparked by Clarence Payia’s seven points, pulled United even at 36-all with 1:33 left in the third. Payia finsihed with 27 points including hitting four of eight three pointers.
Neither team led by more than three points the rest of the way until late. United took a 46-44 lead with 2:33 left in the game on a three by Payia, but the Timberwolves went cold after that and couldn’t hit a shot.
There were nine lead changes and five ties in the game.
The Tigers closed it out hitting seven of eight free throws in the final 1:19.
United was playing in its fourth state tournament and fourth in a row. The Timberwolves won state titles in 2021 and 2022 in Class 5A before returning to the tournament last year in the Class 6A bracket and reaching the championship game, losing to Dallas Lake Highlands.
Oak Cliff Faith Family goes for a three-peat in Class 4A
Dallas Oak Cliff Faith Family Academy will be playing for its third consecutive state title, and fourth overall, as the Eagles raced past Stafford 59-40 in a Class 4A state semifinal on Friday at the Alamodome.
The Eagles, No. 1 in the state in Class 4A, will meet No. 6 Silsbee (29-9) at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
This is Faith Family’s sixth trip to state and sixth in a row. The Eagles have only missed reaching the championship game once, when Argyle defeated FFA in the semifinals on its way to the 2021 state title.
There were no games played in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
No. 11 Stafford (35-7) matched up fairly well with Faith Family’s height, which few do, and the Spartans led for much of the first quarter. Stafford’s biggest lead of the game came with 3:35 left in the first quarter when Maxwell Frels hit a pair of free throws to give the Spartans an 8-4 lead.
But the guard play of seniors Jazz Henderson and Isaac Williams of Faith Family started to take over. The Eagles went on a 16-0 run to close the first period with the help of four Stafford turnovers and two missed shots.
“I think the intensity went up,” said Faith Family coach Brandon Thomas. “I though we had the advantage with the guard play with Jazz and Isaac who have played a lot of games together. We were able to get some steals that led to points and played really good defense during that stretch.”
“We knew it was going to be a tough one,” said Stafford coach David Montano. “They’re not the two-time defending champions for no reason at all so we knew that we’d have to play a really clean game. We had too many turnovers in the first half and it kind of led to that deficit.”
Faith Family kept the double-digit lead for the rest of the contest, building the advantage to 19 points three times, once in each of the last three quarters, with the first being at the 3:08 mark of the second stanza on a layup by Doryan Onwuchekwa.
“Overall defensively I thought we were pretty good, but when you score 36 points in the paint like we did then you’re going to be tough to beat,” said Thomas, whose team shot 53.2% (25-47) for the game from the floor. “At the end of the day players have to make plays and players have to play. I just want these guys to have confidence in themselves to help us to continue to do that.”
Stafford was never able to cut the lead to less than 12 points after the first quarter.
The Spartans are no strangers to the state tournament as well. Stafford has been to the tournament eight times now with one state title in 1992.
The Spartans have lost in the semifinals six times with no games being played in the Covid year of 2020.
Frels led Stafford’s balanced scoring attack with nine points with Michael Fontenot-Ross chipping in seven points.
Williams led Faith Family with 19 points adding three assists and three steals. Henderson had 13 points with five assists and Onwuchekwa scored nine points with 10 rebounds and three steals.
“We’re thankful to win and advance,” said Thomas. “I thought we opened the game solidly and closed the game solidly, but not so much in the second and third quarters. I thought we got a little sloppy so I hope we can clean that up before tomorrow.”
Lancaster narrowly defeats Amarillo in defensive affair
The Lancaster defense paved the way for the Tigers in a game where shots weren’t falling for either team.
No. 1 ranked Lancaster defeated Amarillo 44-31 at the Alamodome on Thursday, breaking the record for fewest points allowed in a Class 5A state semifinal. The Amarillo Golden Sandstorms were abysmal from 3-point range, making one shot in 18 attempts.
Amarillo’s offense struggled for the entirety of the game, but so did Lancaster’s until the final 1:16 of the fourth quarter. The Tigers scored 12 points with six free throws in that span, pulling away and securing the win.
Lancaster head coach Ferrin Douglas said both teams played “great defense” and gave credit to Amarillo for a hard fought performance. The Tiger offense averages 72 points but scored in the 40s for the second consecutive game.
Douglas said his team adjusted to how Amarillo’s play style and added that his team can play fast when necessary. He said that “championship teams play at any style.”
“We don’t want to take bad shots,” Douglas said. “Cause they’re going to be in position every time. It was a battle. ... I wasn’t worried about the scoring. It was just two great defensive teams going at it.”
Lancaster (29-5) made its eighth state tournament appearance and will look to win its third state championship on Saturday at 3 p.m. against Killeen Ellison. The Tigers claimed back-to-back championships in the 2015 and 2016 seasons and are set to return to the grandest stage of Texas high school basketball.
Lancaster forced seven first quarter turnovers, setting the tone for a dominant defensive performance. The Tigers took a 6-2 lead into the second period, and both teams soon found a a brief offensive spark.
“It was an adjustment, I could tell,” Douglas said. “The guys were nervous the first quarter. ... Once the second quarter began they calmed down a little bit.”
Amarillo, in the second quarter, attacked the paint while Lancaster converted mid range jump shots. It seemed as if the scoring would continue when the Tiger started to stall at half court.
The Amarillo defense refused to press and Lancaster held the ball for over one minute and 30 seconds prior to taking a 13-8 lead into the half. Douglas said the goal was to hold the ball for the last shot but that the tactic “backfired” with Amarillo getting another possession.
The third quarter saw Amarillo (34-5) go on a 8-0 run but a 3-pointer from Lancaster senior Mario Perry helped the Tigers keep a slim, 5-point lead heading into the final frame.
Lancaster 6-foot-7 senior Dillon Battie, a 247Sports three star prospect committed to Temple, scored a team high 13 points. He tallied nine points in the fourth quarter, securing his team’s spot in the Class 5A title game.
Lancaster senior Deontrell Barrett was also a key contributor with 13 points. He said the Tigers game plan was to limit 3-pointers and make the Golden Sandstorms drive.
“We stayed with it on defense,” Barrett said. “We didn’t get tired. Every possession is vital.”
Killeen Ellison soars into Class 5A title game
Killeen Ellison and San Antonio Veterans Memorial were both shooting the lights out in the first quarter. The problem for the Patriots was that Ellison never let up.
The Eagles shot a whopping 55.3% (21-38) from the floor including eight of 12 from three-point range as Ellison took down Vets 59-47 in a Class 5A state semifinal on Thursday at the Alamodome.
Ellison (35-5), No. 10 in the final 5A state poll according to the TABC, advances to the title game where it will meet either No. 1 Lancaster (28-5) or No. 5 Amarillo (34-4) at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
Ellison is making back to back appearances at state and its third overall. The Eagles lost to Kimball in the championship game in 2023 and was ousted by Converse Judson in the semifinals in 1993, when Fort Worth Dunbar took home the title.
The game was close in the first quarter, but when Veterans Memorial’s shooting cooled off Ellison’s didn’t. The Eagle shot 52.9% (9-17) from the floor in the first half, including 71.4% (5-7) from beyond the arc.
The result was that a four-point lead for Ellison at the end of the first quarter turned into a 14-point bulge by halftime, 29-15.
Ellison’s biggest lead (26 points) came with 4:54 left in the game on a Nasaun Parker layup, but Vets wasn’t done.
Damarion Dennis scored 12 of his team-high 19 points in the final five minutes to help the Patriots cut the lead down to 12 with 25 seconds left, but it wasn’t enough.
Ahziel McIver led Ellison with 23 points, including three of four from three-point range, and added five rebounds and five steals. Kris White had 14 points for the Eagles.
Jionte Jones had 10 points and eight rebounds for the Patriots.
Veterans Memorial (40-2) only had one previous loss which came in November to San Antonio Harlan 50-40. The Patriots had defeated Harlan by 12 points three days earlier.
Vets was also making back to back trips to the state tournament. The Patriots lost to eventual state champion Dallas Kimball in the semifinals last season.
Silsbee holds off Amarillo Randall for shot at state
In what was the most competitive and action packed game of the tournament thus far, No. 6 Silsbee’s 32 minutes of chaos finally wore down No. 3 Amarillo Randall 75-68 in a Class 4A state semifinal on Friday at the Alamodome.
Silsbee (29-9) is making its 10th appearance at the state tournament. The Tigers were back to back state champions in 2017 and 2018.
Silsbee has lost in the semifinals six times and to the eventual champion twice, including Kennedale in 2008. The Tigers lost in the title game in 2016 to Dallas Lincoln.
Neither team led by more than four points until the last minute of the first quarter when Silsbee went on an 8-0 run, which included a dunk by Jared Harris, to take a 21-14 with 6:57 left in the second quarter.
Harris, who signed to play basketball at Memphis, was also considering TCU after graduation. The senior finished with 21 points, three assists and four steals.
Randall roared back with a 9-0 run of its own sparked by K.J. Thomas who had five of his team-high 19 points on the spree that gave Randall the lead back, 32-31, with 1:53 left before the intermission.
Silsbee led 35-34 at the break.
The game remained close after halftime although Silsbee led the entire way, but not by more than five points until midway through the fourth quarter.
Harris had four points during an 8-2 run gave the Tigers a 64-55 lead that the Raiders couldn’t recover from. Randall cut the lead to three with 56 seconds left on a pair of fast-break baskets by Thomas, but Silsbee scored the final four points to put the game away.
The Tigers had a whopping 52-34 points advantage in the paint. Randall out shot Silsbee 48.1% to 44.9% from the floor, but the Tigers launched 17 more shots than the Raiders.
Randall (34-4) was making its second trip to state and second in a row. The Raiders lost to eventual champion Dallas Oak Cliff Faith Family in the semifinals last season.
Ponder’s historic shooting downs Holliday
Ponder defeated Holliday 62-46 in a Class 3A state semifinal at the Alamodome, shooting 62% from the field. The Lions will play in their first state championship since the 2014 at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
Fore more in depth coverage of the game, click here.
Top-ranked Hitchcock pounds San Antonio Cole
Hitchcock got and early lead and just never let San Antonio Cole get back in the game as the Bulldogs downed Cole 57-40 in a Class 3A state semifinal on Thursday at the Alamodome.
Hitchcock (33-3), No. 1 in the final TABC 3A state poll, will try to defend its title from last season when it faces No. 6 Ponder (37-6) at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
The Bulldogs have now reached the tournament for the third consecutive season and is making their fifth appearance at state. Hitchcock lost to Cole in the semifinals in 2022 and to Argyle in the semis in 2004.
Brock beat the Bulldogs in the 2003 state title game.
No. 3 Cole struggled shooting in the first half, hitting only 19% (4-21) of its shots. Hitchcock on the other hand was pounding the ball inside scoring 20 of its 26 first-half points in the paint.
After Ajian Hasadinratana opened the game with a three for the Cougars, Hitchcock responded with a 10-0 run sparked by Elijah Sherwood and Damien McDaniel.
The Bulldogs kept the lead between six and nine points until late in the first half when a three by Sherwood gave Hitchcock its biggest lead of the first half at 26-14 with 43 seconds left before the intermission.
Hitchcock just wouldn’t let Cole back in the game after the break. The Cougars cut the lead to 11 (33-22) with 1:32 left in the third, but could get no closer.
The Bulldogs pushed the lead to 23 a couple of times in the fourth quarter. The final time came with two minutes left in the game when Sherwood hit a free throw to make it 55-32.
Sherwood finished with a game-high 20 points for Hitchcock. Sherwood had eight rebounds with Lloyd Jones III chipping in 17 points and 13 rebounds and McDaniel adding 11 points, six rebounds and five steals.
Hasadinratana led Cole with 16 points with Logan Beckstrom adding 12 points and Kenny Atunrase pulling down 10 rebounds for the Cougars.
Cole was 36-0 in 1989 on its way to the 3A title, led by Shaquille O’Neal. The Cougars only other title in ten trips now, came in 2021.
Cole has lost in the semifinals five times. The Bulldogs won in the semis in 2020, but the title game was canceled due to the Covid outbreak.
The Cougars lost to Dallas Madison in the 2022 championship.
Lipan survives, New Home’s game winner is late.
Lipan looked to have lost its Class 2A state semifinal with New Home, but a shot a the buzzer in overtime was later ruled to have been taken after the clock should have started and expired. No. 2 Lipan will attempt to win back-to-back state titles at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday when they face No. 13 Shelbyville (29-7).
Fore more in depth coverage of the game, click here.
Shelbyville pulls away from Thrall in the second half
Shelbyville and Thrall battled through a tight first half, but the Dragons pulled away after the break to down Thrall 67-52 in a Class 2A state semifinal on Friday at the Alamodome.
Shelbyville (29-7), ranked No. 13 in 2A in the final TABC state poll, will advance and meet No. 2 Lipan (35-4) in the championship game at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.
The Dragons have won three state titles in 1982, 1984 and 2019. This is the sixth trip to the tournament for Shelbyville which lost in the semifinals in 2018 and had reached the semifinals in 2020, but the tournament was canceled before any Class 2A games were played due to Covid.
Shelbyville led the entire first half, but Thrall (30-6) was able to stay within seven points. Thrall’s Breken Proctor, who scored seven of his 10 points in the first half, hit a three with 1:10 left before the break to tie the game 32-32.
The Tigers took its first, and only, lead at the 5:12 mark of the third quarter when a three by Ethan Dahl, who finished with 10 points and 13 rebounds, made it 40-39 Thrall.
Eli Ferguson and D.J. Barnes took over for the Dragons in the second half. Ferguson had all 12 of his points after the break and Barnes chipped in 11 of his game-high 23 points in the second half.
Barnes added four assists and two steals.
The Dragons followed with an 11-0 run to push the lead back to 10 at 50-40 and the lead just grew from there.
Shelbyville’s biggest lead of 18 points happened twice in the second half with the latter being with 2:19 left in the game on lay up by Ja’Davian Mathis that made it 64-46.
Mathis had 22 points and nine rebounds to go along with five assists and two steals for the Dragons.
Thrall, which was making its first trip to the state tournament, had four players in double digit scoring. In addition to Dahl and Proctor, Dawson Meiske had 17 points and 15 rebounds with Steven Walker contributing 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Dahl was the third double-double performer for the Tigers with 13 rebounds to go along with his 10 points. Thrall out rebounded Shelbyville 44-30 with a 23-6 advantage on offensive rebounds leading to a 26-3 second-chance point advantage.
Benjamin gets state started, knocks off Gordon
For the first time in program history, the Benjamin Mustangs are galloping to the boys basketball state championship.
No. 3 Benjamin defeated No. 8 Gordon 75-58, managing to get over the hump after being eliminated in the 2023 state semifinal by Graford. Benjamin will face Jayton (37-3) in the Class 1A state title game at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday.
“The goal was to get to Saturday,” Benjamin head coach Aaron Kuehler said. “Now, our goal is to cut down the nets on Saturday. With this group its just just take things one game at a time, and they do great with it. You can’t ask for a better bunch of guys.”
Benjamin made its second state tournament appearance while Gordon made its first. Both schools won football state titles in 2024 with Gordon and Benjamin securing the Class 1A D1 title and Class 1A D2 title, respectively.
Benjamin (24-1) took an early 20-12 lead in the first quarter behind 14 points from junior Grayson Rigdon, who also accounted for 10 total touchdowns in the football state title game. Rigdon finished with a game high 32 points on 12 of 24 shooting to help secure a lead the Mustangs held from start to finish.
Senior Weston Weatherford was also a significant contributor from the field, scoring 20 points on only 12 shots.
“First of all, I want to thank God for everything he has done for me,” Weatherford said. “ ... It’s just really good to do that for my team. I’m just playing my part and my role.”
Benjamin’s defense was smothering, forcing the Longhorn offense to finish the contest shooting 37% from the field. The Longhorn’s made nine 3-pointers to prevent the game from getting blown open.
Benjamin dominated Gordon (21-7) in transition, tallying 24 fast break points while Gordon only managed to score one field goal in transition.
The Longhorns were led by sophomore Stryker Reed, who tallied 27 points and made four 3-pointers. Gordon is returning 12 of 14 players next season with only two seniors on the roster.
“It’s a dream come true,” sophomore guard Riley Reed said of Gordon’s first state tournament appearance. “A lot of hard work went into this moment.”
Jayton’s Sean Stanaland scorches Fayetteville
Fayetteville hadn’t been to the boys state basketball tournament since going back to back in 1942 and 1943...81 years ago.
The Lions had a tough draw against No. 2 Jayton in the 2024 Class 1A state semifinals and poor shooting early doomed Fayetteville as the Jaybirds dominated 65-26 on Thursday at the Alamodome.
Jayton (37-3) will face No. 3 Benjamin (24-1) in the 1A championship game at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday. The Jaybirds lost in two overtimes to Graford in the title game last season.
This is Jayton’s fourth trip to state, losing to Slidell in the semifinals in 2020 just as Covid hit and the 1A championship game was not played. In 2019 Jayton lost to Slidell in the championship game.
It was too much Sean Stanaland for the Lions as Jayton’s star sophomore scored 18 of the Jaybirds’ first 20 points of the game. Stanaland finished with a game-high 32 points, outscoring No. 12 Fayetteville himself.
Jayton jumped out to a 9-0 lead behind Stanaland after Fayetteville missed on is first six field goal attempts and had two turnovers. The Lions’ first points came with 2:50 left in the first quarter on a pull-up jumper by Easton Jaeger.
Fayetteville (32-6) closed the game to three points a couple of times in the second quarter, the latter on a jumper by Mason Fenhaus with 6:53 left before halftime, but that was as close as the Lions would get. The Lions never led.
Stanaland quickly pushed the lead back to eight with a six-foot jumper in the lane and a three to make it 20-12 with 5:24 left in the second quarter. The Jaybirds had a 42-8 point advantage in the paint for the game.
But Fayetteville’s shooting woes allowed Jayton to pull away from that point. The Jaybirds led by seven (26-19) at the half, by 13 (36-23) at the end of the third quarter and Jayton outscored the Lions 29-3 in the fourth.
Stanaland added nine rebounds and seven assists for Jayton with Colt Gentry pulling down 11 rebounds, scoring nine points and dishing out four assists for the Jaybirds.
Jaeger led Fayetteville with 10 points and six rebounds.
Fayetteville lost in the Class B semifinals in 1943 and came up short against, you guessed it, Slidell in the 1942 championship game.
This story was originally published March 7, 2024 at 10:14 AM.
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