Pflugerville Defeats Klein Forest 63 - 60

Cameron Blue had another dominating performance as the Pflugerville High boys basketball team held off Klein Forest for a 63-60 win in the area round of the 5A playoffs.

As Pflugerville’s leading scorer Deon Mitchell watched from the bench in foul trouble, Blue finished the night with his second-straight 20-point effort in as many playoff games. He had 22 points and 10 rebounds plus two blocks and a steal. Jamal Shabazz added nine points and nine rebounds. Jordan Major came off the bench to score nine points and Mitchell and Darrian Dempsey each had eight.

The Panther bench played a big role and they had good guard play which was instrumental in our keeping the lead.

Pflugerville (29-4) built a 50-39 lead late in the third quarter when T.J. Williams dropped in a tear drop with less than two minutes to play. The Eagles (26-12), however, were not going down without a fight.

D’Markian Sallie knocked in a 3-pointer and Tyree Gray scored three more points to cut the Panthers lead to 53-45 at the end of the third.

Seven more points from Sallie, Klein Forest trimmed the Pflugerville lead to 55-54 in the first four minutes of the final quarter. Blue scored on a put-back to momentarily stem the Eagle surge, but Rafael Farley buried a three, tying the game at 57-57 with 2:45 to play. The Panthers answered with free throws from Shabazz and Mitchell, retaking a three-point lead in the process. Kaveon Hall-Davis knocked down a basket for Klein Forest to pull them within one at 60-59 with a minute to play but again Mitchell answered, burying two charity shots to push the Panther lead to 62-59.

Pflugerville led 62-60 after Derail Green hit one of two free throws for the Eagles and with 14 seconds left Mitchell was intentionally fouled. He missed the front end of his one-and-one and Klein Forest came up with the rebound, however as Javonte Patrick tried to take the ball up the court he dribbled it off his foot and turned possession back over to the Panthers with 10 seconds to play. Once again, Klein Forest was forced to intentionally foul, this time sending Storm Woods to the line. Woods hit one of his two free throws putting Pflugerville up 63-60 with 10 seconds to play. Patrick got a shot off at the buzzer to try and tie the game for the Eagles, but it was no good and the Panthers escaped with the win.

The Panthers needed a tough win like that, in district they were winning by double-digits. It was good for them to see what it’s like to be in a pressure situation.

The Panthers move on to the region quarterfinals where they will face The Woodlands on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in Hearne.

Pflugerville 63, Klein Forest 60

	1	2	3	4	OT	T
Klein Forest	12	18	15	15	—	60
Pflugerville	16	22	15	10	—	63

FHS: Davis 2, Sallie 13, Patrick 5, D. Green 8, Farley 5, Rideaux 4, S. Green 13, Gray 7
PHS: Mitchell 10, Shabazz 11, Williams 2, Major 9, Woods 3, Dempsey 8, Blue 20
Records: P: 29-4, KF: 226-12.

McNeil losses to the Woodlands 61 - 58

McNeil started the first round of the playoffs with a win against a good Akins team, and had some momentum going into the game against the Woodlands.  The first quarter was a defensive battle between these two 5A schools with both teams only managing 15 points each.

Once both teams were able to get a good feel of each other they began to turn it on in the second quarter.  Both Blair Williams and Hayden Worrell got things going for the Mavericks pushing the ball up court and trying to get points in transition. The Mavericks went in at half time leading the Highlanders 37 to 34 and things were looking good for the McNeil offense.

The third quarter was the quarter that may have lost the contest for the Mavericks.  The offense that was on fire in the second went cold in the third only managing to score 8 points the lowest out put of the game for both teams.  For the Highlanders junior Nolan Cass, along with seniors Brandon Caporoal, and Brain Nordstrom picked it up offensively keeping the Highlanders in the game.

At the start of the fourth both teams were now tied at 45 and it was any ones game. This game was going to go down to the last shot, as each team exchanged baskets throughout the quarter.  The Woodlands’ duo of Nordstrom and Caporale scored all but eight of the Highlanders’ points in the second half, but they got some help with the game on the line.

The score was knotted at 54 after a 3-pointer by McNeil’s Jacob Jiongo with only two minutes left, but Nolan Cass drained his own 3 only 10 seconds later to put the Highlanders back on top.

The Mavericks (18-13) tied the game again on the next possession with a trey by Hayden Worrell, but a jump shot by Garret Colonna gave The Woodlands a two-point advantage with only 52 seconds remaining.

After trading fruitless possessions, McNeil had the ball and called timeout to devise a play. The Woodlands covered all of the Mavs’ shooters beyond the arc, so Robert Waters took it to the hoop for the equalizer.

Waters missed, though, and Cass came down with the rebound. He was immediately fouled with only 12 seconds left in the game. Cass hit both of his free throws for a 61-57 lead, and The Woodlands fouled Worrell on the next possession. He hit only one of his two free throws.

McNeil then fouled immediately, and the Highlanders missed the front end of a one-and-one. The Mavs had one last shot with 2.9 seconds left in the game, but their inbounds pass was deflected by Caporale and Wes Cole came up with the ball.

This was a heart breaker for the Mavs but we want to congratulate them on a great season and look forward to seeing them in the playoffs again next year.

Woodlands 61, McNeil 58

	1	2	3	4	OT	T
Woodlands	15	19	11	16	—	61
McNeil	15	22	8	13	—	58

Woodlands: Cass 11, Caporoal 13, Colonna 12, Netzger 3, Nordstrom 16, Cole 6
MHS: Williams 16, Waters 7, Jiongo 8, Worrell 13, Jo.Jones 4, Je.Jones 7, Pepper 3
Records: W: 31-3, M: 20-13.

Bowie losses to Spring Dekaney

As you move through the playoffs the games just get tougher but in this game Bowie should have had the advantage but with only 7 points in the first quarter and 7 points in the second you would think they were in trouble.  But the Dekaney Wildcats didn't fair much better scoring 10 in the first and 4 in the second so going into the half the teams were tied at 14.

The Wildcats did a good job of containing forward Connor Robinson who finished the game with only 15 points.  Paul Baxter dropped 14 of his own but the big story in this game was the lack of offense from the rest of the Bulldogs team. We said it earlier in the season, the Bulldogs would need to find a way to get both Mo Isom, and Jacob Varela involved in the offense if they wanted to move through the playoffs. Both Isom and Varela only managed 9 points in the game and that was all of the scoring for the Bulldogs offense.  Where were O'Reilly, Jefferson, Clark and the rest of the Bulldogs players in a game like this players have to come ready to contribute and the Bulldogs could have used anything from the rest of the team.

Bowie struggled to contain senior Jalen Hughes who averaged 19 ppg this season but was able to drop 26 in the contest against the Bulldogs.  The difference maker in this game might have been the outstanding shooting from the line by the Wildcats who shot 17 of 20 from the charity stripe.

Congratulations to the Bowie Bulldogs and we hope to see them again next season.  

Spring Dekaney 53, Bowie 47

	1	2	3	4	OT	T
Spring Dekaney	10	4	18	21	—	53
Bowie	7	7	13	20	—	47

DHS: Dison 17, Burkett 2, Sheperd 4, Hughes 26, Green 2, Hubbard 2
BHS: Baxter 14, Isom 9, Robinson 15, Varela 9
Records: SD: 30-5, B: 26-7.

St. Michael's Losses to Houston St. Thomas 52 - 37

The St. Michael's Crusaders came into Fridays game against Houston's St. Thomas Eagles feeling good and looking forward to a great game.  They left the Austin area on Thursday afternoon after a short practice wanting to be in the Houston area in the morning so they wouldn't have to make the long trip the day of the game.

The game started with not much offense from either team, I could say it was a defensive battle but realistically neither team was making shots.  Both teams had open looks but nothing was going in, maybe it was nerves anxiety or to much adrenaline either way they were both struggling and the teams went in at half time tied at 18.

The third quarter went much like the first two not much offense from either team.  Both teams were playing good defense and the Crusaders had several steals in the front court but shooters were just not hitting the mark.  Captain Jake Kocher attempted to take control on several occasions driving into the lane but each time he was met by 6'9" junior Jeremy King who had 4 blocks against Kocher and contested many more.

The Eagles refused to get out of the zone 2 - 3 defense that they were playing and when they tried to pressure the full court the Crusaders took advantage and scored.  On the few occasions that the Eagles did play a man to man it was obvious that they were at a disadvantage against the Crusaders guards who managed to get passed their defender with relative ease but just could not finish.

Going into the fourth quarter the Eagles were up 31 - 25 and this was still any bodies game.  But late in the fourth things just got uglier for the Crusaders some one must have turned on the A/C because the Crusader shooters went ice cold and not just from long range even a layup was not a sure thing for this team that has averaged about 60 ppg this season.  The Crusaders were 4 for 24 from 3 pt range and did fair much better inside the arc shooting 8 for 29. Shooting only 17% from three point range and 28% from inside the arc there was just no way that they were going to stay in the game long.

Looking at the final score you may be incline to say WOW! St. Michael's got dominated.  But that couldn't be farther from the truth.  Neither team played well and the Crusaders didn't do anything to lose this game.  They only had 7 turn overs, they didn't have a great rebounding game with only 21 for the game but were not dominated considering that the Eagles had a 6'9" and a 6'7" player on the court. The Eagles defense didn't keep the Crusaders from getting good open looks, shots just did not go in.

We would still like to congratulate the Crusaders on a great season and hope to see them in the playoffs again next year.

St. Thomas 52, St. Michael's 37

	1	2	3	4	OT	T
St. Thomas	11	7	13	21	—	52
St. Michael's	13	5	7	12	—	37

ST: Sanders 9, Taylor 1, Jones 6, Hurley 9, Brown 12, Brogna 7, Gheriot 1, Longino 1, King 6
SM: Bloonmquist 2, Maldonado 1 (0-5 0%) (, Kocher 16 (6-20 30%), Cady 2, Birch 5 (1-11 9%), Stanka 3, Whitlock 6 (2-8 25%), Wurzel 2
Records: SM: 23-17.

Central Catholic Missed Chances Losses 42 - 41

By Lorne Chan, 

Central Catholic built its season around Cole Martinez and moments like the one that faced the Buttons on Saturday.

Down by a point with 12 seconds left, the Buttons had the ball. But this time, there were no buzzer-beating heroics in a 42-41 loss against Plano John Paul II.

Martinez's high school career ended without touching the ball in the TAPPS 5A regional final.

“We watched Cole John Paul II coach Chad Evans said. “We know how good he is. We're lucky that he didn't get the ball in his hands.”

The No. 4 Buttons' 35-6 season ended on a frantic final play at South San's Durbon Center, where Martinez was used as a decoy.

Tommy Berry drove with about seven seconds left but lost control of the ball. It bounced to teammate Robert Johnson, who missed a 16-footer. Geovan Franco got an offensive rebound, but his putback missed off the rim.

“The play was set up for Tommy,” Central coach Romy Vela said. “He had the shot. The ball just slipped.”

Central had chances to put the game away but was shut out for the final 3:42.

The Buttons took a 41-37 lead on a Martinez 3-pointer — he had all eight Central points in the fourth quarter and finished with 20. The Buttons missed the front end of three one-and-one free-throw opportunities in the final minutes.

John Paul II (29-7) rallied, and Jae Ricketts hit two free throws with 16 seconds left to take the lead. Matt Thompson scored a team-high 13.

John Paul's key was physical defense, and it was focused on stopping Martinez, a 6-foot-2 guard who leads all area players and set the Buttons' single-season record with 905 points.

Drew Giddens blanketed Martinez for much of the game, and Martinez struggled with seven points in the first half. Berry scored all 11 of his points in the first to keep Central within four at the break.

“Drew takes pride in his defense,” Evans said. “He can't make a layup, but he can play defense. Our team is based on being physical like him.”

Martinez got going in the second half but didn't take a shot in the final minutes. He finished 8 of 17 from the field, including 3 of 7 from behind the arc. He also took one free throw, finishing off a three-point play in the third quarter.

Central entered Saturday with a 4-0 record in games decided by three points or fewer, including a 68-65 victory against Antonian on Jan. 29 where Martinez hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer before a crowd of 2,500.

Martinez said he was confident in the final play.

“We got a good look,” Martinez said. “It just wasn't meant to be. We went above and beyond expectations this season, and we can't let this game take away from that.”

Austin High Defeats Klein 51 - 43

The Klein Bearcats came off a good win against always tough Kingwood in the first round of the playoffs and were looking forward to their match up against the Austin High Maroons.  With 5 players on the varsity roster above 6'5" the Bearcats definitely had the height advantage in the match up.  With Seniors David Gerhart 6'6", Kyle Szymanski 6'7", Chris Loving 6'4", as well as junior Cole McDonald 6'6" and sophomore
Andrew Kelly 6'7" they looked at taking control of the middle and stopping the Maroons guard Eric McClellan from getting to the basket.

The Bearcats Coach Glenn Arnold looked like he had the right game plan and his team ready for this second round match up. 

The first quarter was a defensive battle with not much offense from both teams, the Bearcats did a good job of keeping McClellan from getting to the basket holding the Maroons to only 10 points in the first quarter.  The only good thing we can say about this first quarter for the Maroons was that they also did a great job of holding the Bearcats offense to 10 points.

The Maroons picked it up in the second quarter getting some points in transition and scoring 13 points to Klein's 7.  Klein continued to do a good job of holding McClellan as well as senior Chance Robbins under their first half averages.  If not for the offensive performance of senior Adam Gonzalez the Maroons may have found themselves down at the half.  The Maroons went in with a 6 point lead and seemed to have the momentum in their favor.

The third quarter was another sleeper offensively, this was good time to take a bathroom break or get a snack at the concession if you weren't able to get one at half time.  Offensively, both teams just went cold, or maybe their defensive play was just so good no one could score.  I have to guess it was more of the teams just going ice cold.  Both teams were only able to put up 7 points in the third and for two of the best teams in the state, that kind of offense can come back and haunt them down the road.

Both teams were able to get back in the game offensively in the fourth quarter, but the Bearcats defense was still causing problems for McClellan who only managed to put up 6 points for the game well below his regular season average.  Also having problems finding the basket were Robbins and Reinking making this game a much closer game that was expected.  The Maroons should give the game ball to senior Adam Gonzalez he was able to put up 19 points keeping the Maroons in the contest.  In the end the 6 point half time deficit was more than the Bearcats could make up allowing the Maroons to move on to the next round of the playoffs.

We want to Congratulate the Bearcats on a good season, they play in a very competitive Houston district they should be very proud and we look forward to seeing them again in next years playoffs.

Austin High 51, Klein 43

	1	2	3	4	OT	T
Klein	10	7	7	19	—	43
Austin High	10	13	7	21	—	51

KHS: Moore 5, Shockley 10, Baxter 8, Rowe 7, Sterondki 4, Pelley 1, Loving 8
AHS: McClellan 6, Wright 4, Robbins 8, Gonzales 19, Strake 4, Reinking 10
Records: AH: 29-3.

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