Cedar Park Falls to Dallas Kimball 36 - 50

Cedar Park's championship hopes died just after halftime on Thursday night to a Dallas Kimball team with two very controversial transfers on the roster. See Student Athlete Transfers

Among the Kimball players is 6-6 senior Jordan Williams, a University of North Texas signee who averages 29.7 points and 9.5 rebounds. Williams transferred to Kimball just weeks after his former team, The Colony, forfeited 31 victories from its 2009-2010 season because he was ruled ineligible to play.

On Thursday against Cedar Park, Jalen Jones scored 19 points and Dallas Kimball allowed only four points in the third quarter of a 50-36 win over Cedar Park in the Class 4A state tournament. The loss ends the season for a Cedar Park team that had won 11 straight games.

"God has a plan for all of us, and it just wasn't his plan for us to win tonight," Cedar Park senior Spencer Drango said. "I didn't want it to end this way."

Cedar Park led only once in the first half - a 5-4 advantage with 5:29 left in the first quarter - but the Timberwolves tied the top-ranked Knights four times. The last of those ties came when Drango's fourth basket of the game knotted the score at 18 with 5:29 left in the second quarter. Kimball, however, responded to Drango's basket with a 10-0 run over the next three minutes, and the Knights took a 29-22 lead into halftime.

"They're a great team. They're going to get some runs," Cedar Park senior Dylan Cox said. "We were ready to make our run, too, (but) it just didn't happen for us tonight. We just couldn't get it going."

Kimball scored only 13 points in the third quarter but took control of the game as Cedar Park scored only twice. The Timberwolves' offensive production in the third quarter consisted of baskets from Drango and Cox within a minute of each other and the Timberwolves entered the final frame with an insurmountable 16-point deficit.

Cedar Park was unable to get any closer than 13 points in the final quarter.

The Timberwolves were led by Drango's 15 points. Drango, a 6-foot-5-inch center, was a perfect 6-for-6 from the field in the first half. But with the Baylor-bound offensive lineman drawing occasional double teams and a lot of attention from 6-9 senior Jarion Henry in the second half, he made only 1 of 5 field goal attempts.

"We didn't really get into that rhythm in the second half that we had in the first half," Drango said. "As far as playing me, they really didn't change it much. I just had trouble finishing at the hoop in the second half."
"Jarion is the most complete basketball player in the State of Texas, I'll tell anybody that," Kimball coach Royce Johnson said. "He'll take whatever role; he just wants to win. Tonight, we told him, we've got to stop the big fella."

Cox, a point guard who has signed with Army, had 10 points and 13 rebounds in his final game with Cedar Park (22-17). Austin Franklin added 14 points for Kimball, while Jordan Williams contributed a team-high 11 rebounds. Kimball (37-3) will go for its first state championship since 1997 on Saturday afternoon against La Marque.

We would like to Congratulate Cedar Park for another great season and let the basketball world know that they got there without any help from any last minute division one transfers.

Kimball 50, Cedar Park 36

	1	2	3	4	OT	T
Kimball	16	13	13	8	—	50
Cedar Park	14	8	4	10	—	36

Kimball: Jones 19, Williams 2, Lilly 8, Franklin 14, Lewis 3, Henry 4
CPHS: Cleaves 2, Drango 15, Cox 10, Allen 6, Segesta 3
Records: CP: 22-17, K: 37-3.