Day 2 of the UIL boys basketball state championships: Paradise takes crown

Boys basketball state championship Fast Break - Day 2: See results from around the area and state-wide in Classes 3A and 4A from the Alamodome in San Antonio. Paradise walks away with the Class 3A Division II crown as North Texas sweeps the 3A and 4A title games.

No. 2 Paradise survives No. 5 Westwood for 3A DII title

Championship Game MVP Max Jordan hit a jumper in the paint with 33 second left to give Paradise its only lead of the game as the Panthers pulled out a 52-51 win over Palestine Westwood in the Class 3A Division II state championship on Friday in front of 5,030 in attendance.

It was the second state title game appearance for Paradise (37-2), No. 2 in the state in Class 3A according to the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches, in consecutive seasons. Paradise lost to Kountze 67-41 in the 2025 3A DII championship.

It was the first state title game appearance for No. 5 Westwood (29-3).

The game was almost given away after the Jordan jumper gave Paradise the lead. Westwood freshman Kaden Bryant missed a shot with 14 seconds left that was rebounded by Paradise guard Bryce Chipman. Westwood had to foul to get a Paradise player to the free throw line and did.

With 6 seconds left, Paradise missed a pair of free throws that would have given them some cushion. Westwood star guard Kavian Bryant grabbed the rebound, but turned the ball back over to Paradise with 8 tenths of a second left.

All Paradise had to do was get the ball inbounded, but an errant pass was intercepted by Kavian Bryant just outside the three-point arc. The desparation shot was wide left, never touching the rim or backboard.

“We wanted to loop Cooper (Jones) around but if it wasn’t open then to just toss the ball to the opposite free throw line where someone could touch it,” said Paradise coach Bo Rickner of the inbound gaffe. “We threw it to the wrong free throw line and of all people Kavian Bryant grabs it. I just said ‘oh no, please don’t go in’, and it did stop my heart for a second.”

Westwood jumped out to an early 7-2 lead in the first quarter after the second of a pair of three pointers by Kavian Bryant at the 5:10 mark. Kavian Bryant, a junior, led Westwood with 26 points (5 threes) while Kaden Bryant chipped in 12 points.

Paradise kept nipping at the heels of Westwood, but never trailed by more than 9 points in the contest. Paradise tied the game 30-30 with 2:05 left in the third quarter on a tip in by Cooper Jones, but Westwood built the lead back to 7 points, 43-36, after a three by Kavian Bryant with 6:16 left in the game.

Jones made a huge three for Paradise to cut the lead to 51-50 with 55 seconds left. A Wyatt Sanders steal for Paradise led up to the game-winner by Jordan.

Paradise had a whopping 40-14 advantage of points in the paint. Jordan led Paradise with a game-hight 29 points while Jones had 10 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists.

Chipman, a senior, didn’t score for Paradise, but he did pull down a team-high 10 rebounds and had 5 assists. Sebastian Lathan had 3 points for Westwood, but pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds.

“It’s overwhelming pride,” said Rickner. “I’m super proud of these guys for how much time that they put in and have worked for this.

“This game, I think, was indicative of our season with the close games, toughness, resiliency, execution, never giving up and loving each other. Doing it for the team.”

Top-ranked Madison cruises to 3A DI championship

Dallas Madison jumped out to a 13-point lead at the half then cruised to a 70-59 win over Orangefield in the Class 3A Division I state championship game on Friday.

Madison (26-12), No. 1 in the state in Class 3A according to the TABC, was making its 16th appearance in a state championship game. The Trojans lost in the state semifinals to eventual champion Bridgeport in 2015.

No. 6 Orangefield (35-4) was making its first trip to a state title game and just couldn’t keep pace with Championship Game MVP Josiah Cobb of Madison who scored a team-high 20 points to go along with 6 assists.

The Trojans went on a 16-0 run that got started with a three-pointer by Aiden Durr with 2:11 left in the first quarter. Cobb ended the spree when he buried a three to make it 24-10 with 6:38 left before the intermission.

Madison took its biggest lead of the game, 58-39, with 6:33 left in the game on an alley oop dunk by Demondre Jones off a feed from Eddie Moss. Orangefield cut the lead to 8 points a couple of times late in the game, but Cobb made 5 of 6 free throws in the final 46 seconds to keep the Bobcats at bay.

Madison had a huge advantage in bench points, 25-5, led by Durr who chipped in 15 points (3 threes) to go along with 9 rebounds and 5 assists. Jones added 10 points and 9 rebounds for the Trojans.

Carson Willis led all scorers with 21 points for Orangefield with Jaden Scales and Rylan Agerton adding 13 and 10 points, respectively, for the Bobcats.

No. 3 Kimball blasts Crawford for 4A DI title

Dallas Kimble went back to back as the Knights jumped on Rosharon Crawford early in route to a 62-42 victory over the Chargers in the Class 4A Division I state championship on Friday.

Kimble (23-11), No. 3 in the TABC’s Class 4A state poll, was making its 14th championship game appearance of which the Knights have earned 9 state titles (2026, 25, 23, 14, 12, 11, 1997, 96, 90), second most to Snook with 10. No. 17 Crawford (31-7) was making its first trip to the state championship game after opening in August of 2023.

Championship Game MVP Jaylin Hancock scored 15 of his game-high 24 points (3 threes) in the first half as the Knights built a 32-18 lead. Kimball pushed the lead to double digits when Hancock drained a three pointer to give the Knights a 28-16 lead with 4:19 left in the second quarter.

From that point the Chargers couldn’t claw back any closer than 10 points the rest of the way. Kimball took its biggest lead 62-36 (26 points) on a layup by Rylin Austin with 2:51 left in the game.

Hancock also had 6 rebounds and 2 blocked shots in addition to his 24 points for Kimball. Austin finished with 13 points and 5 rebounds while David Coe had 10 points and 3 assists for the Knights.

Alvin Mosley led Crawford with 9 points and 7 rebounds. The Chargers had won 22 games in a row before falling to Kimball.

No. 1 Carter leaves No. 2 La Marque in the dust for 4A DII supremacy

It was No. 1 vs. No. 2 as top-ranked Dallas Carter faced La Marque in the Class 4A Division II championship game on Friday night. Carter sputtered early but exploded in the second and third quarters to run away with a 67-41 win.

It was the third state title game appearance for Carter (31-6) and its first championship. The Cowboys lost in the state semifinals in Class 5A in 2005.

La Marque (41-2) has always been a bridesmaid and never the bride as the Cougars made their third title game appearance without a win. La Marque has also lost in the state semifinals on two occasions.

La Marque led 12-11 after one quarter, but Carter turned up the heat by out scoring the Cougars 43-7 in the second and third periods. Amarion Hunter earned Championship Game MVP honors with a double double, 21 points and 10 rebounds, to go along with 5 assists and 7 steals.

Carter forced 20 La Marque turnovers, 14 of which came in the second and third quarters. The Cowboys biggest lead came at the end of the third quarter when Hunter hit a three pointer to make it 54-19.

Carter pushed the lead to double digits for good on a layup by Landen Higgs with 3:29 left in the second quarter that made it 25-14. Kaiden Eason added 12 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocked shots for the Cowboys.

Malcolm McNair led La Marque with 14 points. Brenden Harris had 7 points and 9 rebounds for the Cougars.

This story was originally published March 13, 2026 at 6:29 PM.