In a tight, highly-contested matchup from the opening tip, Lake Highlands was able to hold off a late charge and eliminate previously undefeated Plano 58-56 at Loos Fieldhouse on Friday night.
Tre Johnson, the area’s No. 4 6A leading scorer, led Lake Highlands (32-4) with 26 points, including a crucial six-point stretch in the fourth quarter that saw Lake Highlands find some separation it would need later in the frame.
“I believe all of our kids knew they could come in and win this game,” Lake Highlands coach Joe Duffield said. “I don’t think them being undefeated scared us or anything — we’ve been in a lot of big games all year.”
Plano (33-1), which had won by an average of 14 points, flexed its defensive might early in the game, holding Lake Highlands to just six points in the first quarter.
Midway through the second, Plano extended its lead to 22-17. However, it could never pull away from Lake Highlands, as it leaned on Johnson with 10 second-quarter points to keep things close and with one at halftime.
After a basket by Plano to open the second half, Lake Highlands took the lead for good with a 12-0 run to lead 34-25. And every time Plano would try to climb back, Lake Highlands had a response.
Lake Highlands built a 12-point lead midway through the fourth quarter, only to see Plano quickly reduce it to four on a 9-1 run. Johnson made some clutch free throws late to seal the win for Lake Highlands, which will advance to the regional quarterfinals for the second straight year.
- Stephen Peters
Frisco Memorial 71, Lancaster 64: State-ranked No. 5 Frisco Memorial never trailed Friday at Highland Park to advance to the third round of the Class 5A playoffs for the first time in program history with a 71-64 win over No. 3 Lancaster.
Avery Jackson scored 10 of his team-high 20 points in the first quarter as Memorial built an early 10-point lead before settling for a 35-26 halftime advantage.
Lancaster, powered by 28 points and 14 rebounds from Micah Clark, battled back to draw even at 35-35 early in the third quarter, only to see the Warriors close the period with a 14-5 run for the upper-hand, 49-40. That lead would grow to as many as 14 at 66-52 before settling for the final margin.
All five Memorial starters scored at least six points and had at least four rebounds and an assist and the Warriors did not make their first substitution until less than two minutes remained in the game.
Memorial knocked down eight 3-pointers as a team, including four from Leon Horner (16 points) and two from Drew Steffe (19 points). Isaiah Foster also reached double figures for the Warriors (10 points) in addition to pacing the team with five assists.
Memorial advanced to face Lovejoy.
- Justin Thomas
Richardson 65, Allen 61: McDonald’s All-American Cason Wallace broke a 61-61 tie with a layup with 3.4 seconds left as the nation’s second-ranked team escaped with the area-round win.
Wallace, a five-star Kentucky signee, led Richardson (32-1) with 18 points and four-star Alabama signee Rylan Griffen and Timmie Jordan added 15 points apiece for the state’s No. 1 team. Allen (23-12) made eight 3-pointers, including one to tie it before Wallace’s game-winning shot.
Richardson advanced to the 6A Region I quarterfinals to face McKinney.
Duncanville 52, Rockwall-Heath 43: Three-star recruit Ashton Hardaway hit a 3-pointer with about three minutes left to break a tie and give Duncanville the lead for good, and the nation’s third-ranked team survived a tough area-round game.
Duncanville (30-1) has won the last two 6A state titles, in 2019 and 2021, and it reached the state semifinals in 2020 before the state tournament was canceled because of the pandemic. Duncanville was held to its lowest point total of the season, and it led just 26-25 at halftime, but it still found a way to extend its winning streak to 15 games.
Five-star forward Ron Holland, the state’s No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2023, led Duncanville with 19 points, Aric Demings scored 10 and Davion Sykes finished with eight. Duncanville came into Friday averaging 80.1 points per game and had scored 90 or more points eight times.
Rockwall-Heath hit a half-court shot at the end of the third quarter to close to within 40-36.
Duncanville, ranked No. 2 in the state, will play District 11-6A rival DeSoto in the 6A Region II quarterfinals.
DeSoto 56, Wylie 53: DeSoto, the No. 4 seed from District 11-6A, rallied from a 10-point first-quarter deficit to beat Wylie. Deshawn Crawford scored 16 points for DeSoto to help offset a 24-point game from Wylie’s Donaven Davis.
McKinney 60, South Grand Prairie 45: Four-star junior guard Ja’Kobe Walter scored a game-high 19 points as No. 13 McKinney beat No. 16 South Grand Prairie in a matchup of state-ranked 6A teams in the second round.
McKinney (31-5) led SGP (25-9) by just three at halftime before closing the game on a 34-22 run. Devin Vincent and Alex Anamekwe scored 12 apiece for McKinney, while Vaughn Loud led SGP with 13 points.
Arlington Martin 47, Denton Guyer 46: Cydd Ford scored a game-high 15 points, and Martin held off a furious Guyer rally in the fourth quarter.
Guyer trailed by 11 in the second half, but it rallied to within one and had the ball in the closing seconds. Martin came up with a steal to clinch the win, as Kordelius Jefferson poked the ball away and Andre Norris came up with it.
Martin, ranked No. 17 in the state in 6A, led 42-35 entering the fourth quarter before No. 12 Guyer closed the game on an 11-5 run. Up next for Martin is a 6A Region I quarterfinal against No. 8 Lake Highlands.
Garland 69, Killeen Harker Heights 64: Four-star Kansas signee Zuby Ejiofor had 27 points, 24 rebounds and four blocks in Garland’s area-round victory. He has 56 points and 41 rebounds in his last two games as Garland (24-1) has extended its winning streak to 20 games.
Highland Park 55, Jacksonville 54 (OT): Coleson Messer made one of two free throws with 3.6 seconds left in overtime to give Highland Park the area-round win.
Messer finished with 24 points, scoring 21 in the second half and overtime, and Luke Hardenburg added 13 points for Highland Park (28-4). The state’s 13th-ranked 5A team led 29-14 at halftime before being outscored 36-21 in the second half.
Mansfield Timberview 87, Grapevine 55: Chendall Weaver scored a game-high 33 points as Timberview advanced to the third round of the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season. Timberview is trying to reach the state tournament for the fourth time in six years.
Weaver scored 17 points in the first half as Timberview (32-4) built a 37-23 lead. Timberview made 10 3-pointers in the game, with Weaver hitting six of them.
Donovan O’Day scored 13 points, and Jared Washington and Samir Dhalle each scored 12 for Timberview, ranked No. 7 in the state in 5A.
Timberview advanced to play district rival Mansfield Legacy in the 5A Region I quarterfinals. Timberview won both of their district matchups — 68-56 and 65-63.
Mansfield Legacy 60, Birdville 56: The state’s ninth-ranked 5A team rallied from an 18-point second-quarter deficit to advance to the 5A Region I quarterfinals.
Wayne Wiggins clinched the win by making two free throws with 11.4 seconds remaining. Wiggins finished with 21 points, and Audrey Cox made four 3-pointers and scored 12 for Legacy (24-8).
Legacy trailed 37-27 at halftime but outscored Birdville 21-10 in the third quarter to take a one-point lead into the fourth quarter.
Mansfield Summit 73, Denton Ryan 39: Richard Lemboye scored 24 points and Nicholas Shogbonyo added 21 as the state’s sixth-ranked 5A team advanced.
Mansfield ISD will have three teams playing in the 5A Region I quarterfinals — Summit, Timberview and Legacy. Summit will play Richland, which beat Arlington Seguin 68-49.
Lovejoy 49, Woodrow Wilson 42: Karson Templin scored 18 points and Pete Peabody added 12 in Lovejoy’s area-round win. The game was tied at halftime before Lovejoy outscored Woodrow Wilson 27-20 in the second half.
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