Austin High Defeats Anderson 67 - 41

By Danny Davis
Chance Robbins got hit hard on Monday night. His teammates, however, hit back harder.

Fueled partially by two hard fouls on Robbins before halftime, Austin High stormed past Leander in the third quarter on its way to a 67-41 win. The bidistrict playoff victory, Austin High's first boys basketball postseason win in 50 years, sends the Maroons into an area-round matchup against either Humble Kingwood or Klein.

"It's always been our goal to do this," Austin High senior Adam Gonzales said. "We're very happy for this win but we knew this win was ours and we've just got to prepare for the second round."
Leander grabbed its only lead early in the first quarter, and an alley-oop dunk from Alex Reinking to Eric McClellan gave the Maroons an 8-3 lead with less than two minutes to go in the quarter. Austin High ended the quarter with a 12-6 lead.

While McClellan's dunk set off some early fireworks, things got explosive in the second quarter, when Robbins was twice the victim of a hard foul . With 6:24 left in the quarter, the senior forward was tackled while trying to track down a rebound, and he had to leave the game with an apparent leg injury. Robbins soon returned, but he was later head-butted by Leander's Byron McGehee, on a play that saw the Leander senior nail a three-pointer.

Robbins was unable to draw a foul on either play but he did receive a bruise under his right eye on the McGehee three-point play. Those plays, however, lit a fire under an Austin High team that led by only five points after McGehee's three-pointer.

Austin High closed the quarter on a 6-3 run and Gonzales hit an off-balance shot at the buzzer.
"We were pretty fired up," Robbins said. "Lots of cheap shots in the first half, I was angry. It was good, it kept us fired up."

Austin High took control in the third quarter as the normally defensive-minded Gonzales scored eight points, while Reinking added six points.

Leander, which saw a 25-17 halftime score turn into a 45-26 deficit by the end of the quarter, made its first two shots of the second half. The Lions didn't score again until Donald McBride hit a three-pointer with 10 seconds remaining.

"Third quarter has always been our (quarter) all year," Gonzales said. "I like to think we're the best third-quarter team in the state."  Austin High put the game away with 18 free throws in the fourth quarter. For the game, Austin High connected on 35 of 48 free throws.

"It feels amazing," Robbins said of the win. "It's great for the whole school ."

Reinking led Austin High with 18 points, while McClellan had 16 and Gonzales had 12 . Leander was led by Mark Nwakamma's 14 points
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF