State roundup: Lake Highlands, Kimball, Faith Family and Hitchcock capture state titles

It’s championship Saturday at the UIL state basketball tournament with six championship games taking place at the Alamodome.

CLASS 3A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP

Hitchcock 68, Childress 45

Hitchcock won its first state title in its fourth trip to the state tournament as the Bulldogs blew open a close game with a fourth-quarter flurry to run away from Childress 68-45 in the Class 3A state championship game.

Childress (28-8), No. 5 in the final TABC Class 3A state poll, led most of the first quarter until Lloyd Jones III hit a jumper at the buzzer to give No. 2 Hitchcock (31-7) its first lead at 12-10.

The game stayed within 10 poinits throughout the third quarter, but the Bulldogs turned it on in the final frame outscoring the Bobcats 29-6.

Damien McDaniel, the 3A title game Most Valuable Player, scored 10 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter. McDaniel had six rebounds, five assists and eight steals.

Elijah Sherwood also had 17 points for the Bulldogs and blocked two shots. Jones III had 14 points, two assists, two blocked shots and an extraordinary 21 rebounds for Hitchcock.

Aiden Allen had a game-high 20 points and pulled down seven rebounds for Childress with Billy Moore contributing 10 points for the Bobcats.

CLASS 5A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP

Dallas Kimball 69, Killeen Ellison 48

Dallas Kimball won its seventh state championship with a 69-48 drubbing of Killeen Ellison in the Class 5A state championship game.

Kimball (33-2) is in a tie for second for most championships won with Buna and Port Arthur Lincoln. Snook has 10 state championship trophies.

The Knights’ 14 state tournament appearances is tied for seventh most in Texas. Austin High and Snook have 19 appearances with the last one coming in 1961 for Austin High and 2005 for Snook.

Kimball has only missed reaching the championship game twice in the 14 trips.

Kimball jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead highlighted by a three from R.J. Osborne. But Ellison (38-4) rallied with a 10-1 run of its own to lead at the end of the first quarter on a three by Kristopher White and a lay in by Deion Ware.

Ellison kept a slim lead until the 4:32 mark of the second quarter when Kimball took control. The Knights went on a 14-3 run to end the quarter then steadily pulled away to lead by as much as 23 in the final quarter.

Tylar Hankamer of Kimball was the title game MVP scoring 17 points with four rebounds, two assists and two steals. DaCannon Wickware was key in keeping Ellison from getting any second-chance points by pulling down 18 rebounds with 16 coming after shots by the Eagles.

T’Johnn Brown had 14 points and six assists for Kimball with Barack Holland and Osborne scoring 13 and 12 points respectively for the Knights. Kimball shot 59.1% for the game with 40 points coming in the paint.

Jamyron Keller had 12 points and Ahziel McIver had 10 points for Ellison. Kesean Garland had five steals for the Eagles.

CLASS 4A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP

Dallas Oak Cliff Faith Family 70, Houston Washington 56

Dallas Oak Cliff Faith Family spotted Houston Washington a seven-point lead in the first quarter, but outscored the Golden Eagles 55-36 in the final three frames to pull away 70-56 in the Class 4A state championship game.

Faith Family (32-3) has now been to the state championships for five consecutive seasons and won titles three times. No champion was crowned in 2020 due to the covid pandemic.

Jadyn Toppin was the game’s MVP scoring a game-high 20 points. Toppin had 11 in the first quarter to keep Faith Family in the game.

Faith’s Peyton Gusters took over in the second half scoring all 19 of his points after the break. Gusters completed a double, double pulling down 10 rebounds.

Doryan Onwuchekwa had 15 points and 15 rebounds for FFA who out rebounded Washington 49-35.

Three players scored in double digits for Washington (29-8). Chris McDermott had 18, Kenneth Lewis tossed in 14 and Andre Walker II chipped in 11.

CLASS 6A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP

Dallas Lake Highlands 55, Beaumont United 44

Dallas Lake Highlands ended a 55-year state tournament drought and finished its second appearance the same as the first, with a state title.

Championship game MVP Tre Johnson scored a game-high 29 points including 13 straight for Lake Highlands spanning the third and fourth quarters as the Wildcats claimed the Class 6A championship with a 55-44 win over Beaumont United.

Lake Highlands (34-3) won the Class 3A crown in 1968.

United (36-2) was making its third consecutive trip to the state tournament after winner the past two Class 5A state championships. It was a remarkable feat for the Timberwolves to reach the championship game in its first year in Class 6A.

The game was extremely close throughout with neither winning by more than nine points until the final two free throws of the game by Johnson created the final 11-point margin.

A three pointer by Johnson at the 19 second mark of the first quarter tied the game at 17, but the Wildcats trailed from that point until the 6-6 junior hit another three with 1:40 left in the third quarter that gave Lake Highlands a 38-37 lead.

That lead would stand the rest of the way.

Lake Highlands’ Samson Aletan just missed a triple double with 10 points, 10 rebounds and Class 6A tournament record of seven blocked shots. Quinton Perkins had 10 rebounds, five assists and four steals for the Wildcats.

Wesley Yates III led United with 21 points and Kayde Dotson tallied 12. Clarence Payia and Daniel Williams had 10 rebounds each for the Timberwolves.

This story was originally published March 11, 2023 at 10:28 PM.