Plano East keeps perfect season alive, eliminates Mansfield Lake Ridge in state semifinal
Mansfield Lake Ridge entered its first state boys’ basketball semifinal in program history looking to secure a massive upset.
The Eagles fell short in their quest, falling 61-45 to No. 1 Plano East at the Alamodome on Friday. Plano East (39-0) will play in the Class 6A state championship at 8:30 on Saturday.
Plano East made its second state appearance with the last one coming during the 1994 season. The Panthers have never won a state championship.
If victorious on Saturday, Plano East will complete a perfect season in Texas high school basketball’s largest classification.
“We’ve been around each other for so long – since middle school and for some, even before Middle School,” Senior forward Jordan Mizell said. “To know that all the hard work we put in together is finally paying off for all of us and we’re all succeeding as a team — doing stuff that’s never been done before and making history.”
Lake Ridge head coach Cornelius Mitchell credited Plano East for being a good team and said the Eagles “couldn’t get it going.”
“Ours kids kept fighting, and every time we thought we had a run, they responded,” Mitchell said. “We just didn’t have enough tonight.”
The Panthers, according to Plano East star forward junior DJ Hall, don’t focus on their perfect record and focus on winning one game at a time. Go 1-0 is on the Panthers’ chalkboard and the team sees it every day.
“Winning the state championship, that’s all that matters,” Hall said. “Because all those other games won’t matter if we don’t win the last game.”
Plano East will continue to focus on the present moment, and Plano East head coach Matt Wester has emphasized that mentality all season.
“They’re not worried about the next game,” Wester said. “They’re not worried about the last game. They’re worried about what is happening right now.”
Lake Ridge’s Amir McMillan, a 247Sports three star guard, led the Eagles with 18 points. His spectacular individual effort, however, was not enough for Lake Ridge (32-7) to advance.
Although the Panthers didn’t always capitalize, they thoroughly dominated the rebounding battle. Plano East tallied 20 offensive rebounds to Lake Ridge’s nine and won the total rebounding battle 40-22, which created more scoring opportunities.
“They’re the greatest rebounding team we’ve seen all year,” Mitchell said.
Lake Ridge is normally a patient team that loves to share the basketball but Plano East’s defense smothered ball handlers. The Eagles finished with only three assists in the ballgame, and Mitchell said it was due to a lack of confidence and shots not falling.
The first quarter saw Plano East tally nine offensive rebounds. The Panthers couldn’t capitalize, shooting 20% from the field and failing to score over a Lake Ridge defense that tallied four blocks.
McMillan had a big third quarter with three made field goals. He controlled the pace of the Eagle offense, taking matters into his own hands when needed.
Mitchell said McMillan thrives when the lights are the brightest and stepped up when his teammates needed him most.
“He works really hard,” Mitchell said. “He has a lot of confidence.”
Senior guard Narit Chotikavanich was the only Panther to shoot 50% or higher in the first half and powered his team to a 26-22 halftime lead with two 3-pointers and a pair of free throws. In the second half, Plano East brought a new intensity and physicality.
“We had to be like a tough team to win a tough game,” Wester said. “And so we talked a lot about taking care of the ball and rebounding well, and we did both of that, you know, fairly well.”
Plano East senior Jon Tran, in the third quarter, extended his team’s lead with two 3-pointers. Although the Panther offense was inefficient at first it became more productive as the game continued.
Mizell said the hard work over the off season prepared Plano East to outlast the competition. Plano East kept a steady lead in the fourth quarter despite Lake Ridge’s effort to push the pace.
The Eagles had 10 second half turnovers, failing to make the best of ultra important possessions.
“We knew we had to be tough,” Chotikavanich said. “It was going to be four quarters of bully ball, and we were prepared for it.”
Hall was semi contained by the Eagle defense and had seven turnovers, but the 6-foot-6 star forward still scored a team high 15 points. Another key contributor for Plano East was Mizell, who scored 13 points on nine shots.
This story was originally published March 8, 2024 at 8:49 PM.
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