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Boys and girls basketball: Fright Night for Farmers on Friday the 13th at Plano East
BY JUSTIN THOMAS, jthomas@acnpapers.com
PLANO -- Plano East's Sawyer Kipp missed three of his four 3-point attempts in Friday's District 8-5A contest against Lewisville. That was all he missed.
Kipp scored a game-high 20 points, including all seven of his two-point field goals, as the Panthers topped the Farmers, 54-43.
"[Kipp] was just taking advantage of the size matchups he had tonight," said Doug Bleadorn, East coach. "They didn't have a real big guy, and our guys knew that, and they were able to get the ball to him in position to score and he came through for us."
Lewisville, behind its press, erupted for a 15-2 spurt to open the third and cut the deficit to two, but could never tie or take the lead.
"It was tough," said Gary Collier, Lewisville coach. "We did a good job fighting to get back in it after we started the game like we did. We just didn't bring the intensity and I don't know what it was, but we didn't come out ready to play tonight."
Ray Dorsey paced the Farmers with 13 points -- 11 in the second half -- to go with six rebounds and five assists, while Malcolm Brown contributed nine points and nine rebounds and Cameron King scored nine. Jaden Wright chipped in eight for the Farmers.
"We did a good job in the first half against Dorsey, but he was determined to get it going in the second half," Bleadorn said. "We did the best we could and held him to 13, but they made their run on his back. We were able to hold him down enough to get the win, though."
Marcus Mathieu followed Kipp with 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting for East, while Xavier Smith led the Panthers with nine rebounds.
After falling behind, 9-1, Lewisville rattled of six consecutive points as Dorsey connected with Brown for a pair hoops and Wright converted off an offensive rebound. However, East grabbed the momentum back at the end of the first when Smith scored off the offensive glass and Mathieu closed the frame with a hoop off a steal for a six-point lead.
The Panthers rode the momentum through the second, where Kipp posted 11 of his game-high 20 points, before Mathieu again closed a quarter strong with an and-1 to go to the break up, 29-14.
Lewisville forced four consecutive turnovers off the press early in the third to spark a run of their own. Dorsey sliced his way through the lane for a layup before Wright delivered an and-1 followed by a lay-in off a crab-dribble to get Lewisville within two at 31-29, prompting an East timeout.
"We were able to get a few turnovers out of the press and hit them with a few other things," Collier said. "But I think just coming back kind of took it out of us. We got a little fatigued. But hands down, Plano East played well, hit some shots and beat us. They did well from the 3-point line and we didn't make too many."
The Farmers hit 2-of-16 from long-range, while the Panthers converted 3-of-8.
The quick breather off the timeout helped East, who was able to extend its lead back to seven at the end of the third following a tip-in from Smith. The Farmers wouldn't trim the lead to fewer than seven the rest of the way.
"We had four straight turnovers at one point and a couple quick shots thrown on top of that," Bleadorn said. "The next thing you know, 15 is down to two. That's just how it goes in this district. You really have to take care of the ball and be smart as far as shot selection."
Lewisville continues at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Plano West, while East travels to face defending state champ Marcus at the same time.
"I think we're getting a lot of experience in district," Bleadorn said. "They're out there learning and are starting to understand that one possession came make the difference in winning and losing. They're doing a good job."
"We have Plano West Tuesday and it's going to be a tough one," Collier said. "We have to put this one behind us and continue to improve. We're missing a lot of pieces right now, but I don't believe in excuses. We have to play with what we have and these are pretty much the same guys we had against Marcus. We just have to be ready to play."
Girls basketball: East runs away from Lewisville
The atmosphere at Friday's District 8-5A contest between Lewisville and Plano East was far from raucous and it didn't change much throughout the game as the Lady Panthers gave the Farmer crowd little to cheer for in a 59-25 victory.
"It's unforunate with the injuries Lewisville has had the past few weeks," said LaGwenna Morrow, East coach. "They did what they could and I praise them for their effort."
After slowly gaining an 11-4 advantage in the first quarter, East pulled away in the second, outscoring Lewisville, 21-4, in the frame to take a commanding 32-8 advantage to halftime.
"I honestly thought we started a little slow and sluggish," Morrow said. "It was only 4-2 with four minutes off the clock. It was very slow-paced for us and we had to focus on our game and be a little more proactive rather than reactive.
"And the gym was just so quiet and the whole mood was like that. I remember saying to the girls on the bench 'lets get some cheers on the bench to get it going.' Maybe it was Friday the 13th ... I don't know. The whole atmosphere was pretty down but we picked it up later."
Jordan Goforth paced the Lady Panthers with 14 points, all in the first half, while Jasmine Caston scored 11 and had four assists, Tatiyana Smith recorded 10 points and eight rebounds and Paris Bridges totaled eight points to go with eight boards. Alex Jackson contributed eight points in the fourth quarter alone for the Lady Panthers.
"I was definitely pleased with the production we got from our bench," Morrow said. "They went out there and ran and I think everyone that played was able to score."
Makayla Roberson led the Farmers with six second-half points, while Laurrin Clark scored five and Monisha Neal and Elizabeth Simon chipped in four points apiece.
The Lady Panthers used a 25-2 run during the first and second quarters, a stretch that saw East make 10-of-13 shots from the field. East shot 50 percent from the floor for the game (24-of-41 on two-point attempts) and limited the Farmers to less than 20 percent for the game.
"We changed up our defense in the second quarter," Morrow said. "Our fastest defense that we have, that's what we had to use to get the game uptempo where we wanted it to be. I think that's what gave us that push and separation."
Lewisville continues at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Plano West, while East travels to face Marcus at the same time.
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