Boys Bball Recap: Late free throw sends Northwest to 6-5A title

Freshman guard Julien Smith went to the free-throw line with 0.2 left and knocked down the biggest shot of his young career.

Justin Northwest hung on to beat Brewer 44-43 to win the outright District 6-5A championship, a first since the 2009-10 season.

Entering the night, the Texans (28-5) were ranked No. 18 in 5A by TABC, and had already clinched a share with Brewer and Chisholm Trail just a game behind. Now Northwest heads to the playoffs next week as a No. 1 seed to face Sherman, 7 p.m. Tuesday at Gainesville High School.

Brewer (23-8) took an early 12-11 lead after one, and 20-19 at halftime. The Texans trailed by two going into the fourth before outscoring the Bears 15-12 in the final period.

Avery Anderson scored a team-high 15 points. Smith added 12 points. Brewer’s Pedro Castro, a UT-Arlington signee, scored a game-high 21 points and Cortland Blake added 11 points.

Cleburne 73, Joshua 47

The Yellowjackets (24-8) are headed to the playoffs for the first time since 2009. It was also the last time they won 20 games, when they went to the regional quarterfinals.

The game may have been out of hand early, but Trey Whitehead made the most of it.

Whitehead is Cleburne’s manager and videographer - his main role to prep game film, shoot video and keep stats, but on Tuesday night, he got to put on a jersey.

In the second half with the Yellowjackets up big, head coach Kurt White subbed in Whitehead with his No. 55 jersey.

“It's a perfect example of what good people are - as a junior last year, Trey gave up his uniform to help film,” White told the Cleburne Times-Review. “He's always at the gym and always working. He can run our offense right now. He knows exactly what to do. He gave up his uniform to help the team, and he knew that was the best way he could help the team.”

Whitehead hit a 3-pointer to give Cleburne a 61-24 lead.

“It was so cool running back down the court to cheers and screams,” Whitehead told the CTR. “Truly the greatest moment of my life and I will never forget it.”

Forby Phillips scored a game-high 20 points. Cleburne starts the playoffs against two-time defending 5A state champion Lancaster.

Playoff bound

Kelton Tezeno scored 12 points, and Hayden Smith and London Savala added 11 and 10 points as Burleson Centennial defeated Everman 50-41 to clinch one of the two final playoff spots in District 9-5A.

Centennial (18-13) entered the night in a four-way tie for third and fourth with Everman, Granbury and Crowley. District champ Arlington Seguin beat Granbury and Crowley beat Burleson. The Spartans owned the tiebreaker vs. Crowley and will face Mansfield Timberview in the first round.

Richland (16-13) earned its 11th-straight playoff trip after beating Colleyville Heritage 68-60 in a winner take all fourth place match up in District 8-5A. The Rebels will face 7-5A champ Trimble Tech.

This story was originally published February 15, 2017 at 1:04 PM with the headline "Boys Bball Recap: Late free throw sends Northwest to 6-5A title."