Arlington Bowie roars back to beat Ellison, advances to regional final

Arlington Bowie crawled out of the gate on Friday, but rallied to down Killeen Ellison 54-51 in a Class 6A Region I semifinal at Wilkerson-Greines Activity Center.

Bowie (28-10) missed on its first five field-goal attempts and trailed 11-4 after one quarter, but after hitting only 1 of 9 shots to open the game, the Volunteers roared back.

Kyler Edwards scored 13 of his game-high 30 points during a 20-3 run that spanned much of the second period.

“We just started to get out on the fast break,” said Edwards, whose team will play Keller (31-2) at 1 p.m. Saturday in the regional final. “When we were down we were walking the ball up the court, so we decided to just push as fast as we can.”

Edwards opened the spree with a 3-pointer and then a dunk that drew a foul. Another three-point play off a layin gave Bowie a 24-17 lead with 1:41 left in the half.

Ellison (28-8) regained a brief 31-30 lead on a Casey Armour basket with 1:55 left in the third quarter. Armour led the Eagles with 18 points.

But the Volunteers went on a 6-0 run capped by an Edwards dunk, off an assist by Richard Robinson, to take a 36-31 lead into the final quarter.

The game stayed tight the rest of the way with the difference being free throws. Bowie made 21 of 27 foul shots while the Eagles went 14 of 24, including missing six freebies in the final four minutes.

“This is by far the best free-throw shooting team I’ve ever had,” Bowie coach Allen Gratts said. “As a team we’re shooting about 74 percent. You’re not going to win games if you can’t shoot free throws.”

It will be the first trip to state for either Keller or Bowie, whoever wins Saturday.

“I think we have a good chance,” Edwards said. “I’m just ready to win and go to the state tournament.”

This story was originally published March 3, 2017 at 10:24 PM with the headline "Arlington Bowie roars back to beat Ellison, advances to regional final."