Fort Bend Travis headlines Texas basketball finals winners

AUSTIN, Texas -- The focus of the Class 5A boys state title basketball game fell on Fort Bend Travis (Richmond) and its talented 6-foot-5 twins, Aaron and Andrew Harrison.

Denied in the state title game in 2012 as juniors, the University of Kentucky signees ended their high school careers as champions.

Travis, from suburban Houston, outlasted South Grand Prairie (Grand Prairie) 46-38 Saturday night in front of 12,214 fans at the University of Texas' Frank Erwin Center.

"The individual awards and being named All-American is great, but there is nothing like winning a state championship,'' said Andrew Harrison, the game's MVP. "This is a team thing. It is definitely at the top of my list.''

Andrew Harrison finished with a game-high 16 points and a team-high nine rebounds for Travis (33-5), No. 15 in the MaxPreps Freeman Rankings.

Aaron Harrison struggled with his outside shot, going 3-for-16 from the field, and finished with eight points. But it didn't dampen his post-game mood.

"I was sitting around before the game thinking about the feeling we had last year when we lost in the finals [56-52 to Marcus (Flower Mound)],'' Aaron said. "I was thinking I can't have that feeling again.''

South Grand Prairie (37-4) entered with the better season record, a higher ranking (No. 25 in the Xcellent 25 rankings and No. 5 in Freeman) and a reputation for playing clamp-down defense. Through six playoff games, the Warriors are holding opponents to less than 38 points per game.

View the MaxPreps Texas boys basketball playoff brackets

Defense, however, wasn't the problem for the Warriors. It was shooting. South Grand Prairie hit only 26.5 percent of its field goal chances and shot its way out of the game.

"We played great defense,'' said South Grand Prairie coach Brandon Bennett, who helped his school reach the state tournament for the first time since 1975. "At the beginning of the game if you'd ask me, I would have taken the points we allowed in a minute. But the guys that usually score for us didn't shoot well tonight.

"When we got behind we had to change our lineup and go with four guards, then we couldn't keep them off the free throw line.''

Travis shot 27 free throws (making 19). South Grand Prairie didn't miss a foul shot, but had only six opportunities.

Bennett praised the Harrison twins.

"They are both big and strong and can handle the ball,'' Bennett said. "They get to the line a lot.''

The twins combined to go 11-for-17 from the line in the title game after going 19-for-23 in Friday's semifinal victory over Berkner (Richardson).

Travis led by only one point, 20-19, at the break. South Grand Prairie had taken enough shots to be ahead, but failed to take advantage of some rebound opportunities from close range.

"I think those early misses hurt our confidence,'' Bennett said.

A 9-2 run in the third period, featuring a layup by Daniel Chika and a 3-pointer from John Burnett, allowed Travis to slow the pace of the game. It almost proved costly when South Grand Prairie came to life and closed within two, 31-29, with 6:37 to play.

Andrew Harrison answered the threat by reeling off five straight points for a seven-point lead.

South Grand Prairie again pulled within three points with 1:22 remaining when Virginia Tech signee Ben Emelogu was fouled on a successful 3-point shot. He added a free throw for a rare four-point play.

Travis then put the game away with Andrew Harrison free throws.

Travis coach Craig Brownson said he expected his team to win, but he also knew it would take a grinding effort from his players.

"I remember how devastated my guys were after that loss to Marcus and seeing the looks of joy on the winning side,'' Brownson said. "It means a lot to see my guys happy this time.''

Brownson wouldn't confirm if his specialty is coaching twins. "But I wish I had more coming like them.''

Terry (Rosenberg) 55, Kimball (Dallas) 47

The true measure of halftime words delivered by Terry boys basketball coach Michael Jackson can be judged one way, according to star forward Derrick Griffin.

"You see how it turned out,'' said the 6-foot-7 senior forward and game MVP, gesturing to the Class 4A state championship medal he wore around his neck.

Inspired by his coach, Griffin led the Rangers with 26 points and 14 rebounds in a stunning takedown of two-time defending state champion Kimball.

Terry overcame a 16-point first-half deficit.

The halftime message Jackson delivered to his players was to stop shooting 3-pointers and play to the team's strength of attacking the rim.

"I thought we played an awful first quarter,'' Jackson said. "We picked up a couple of early fouls that kept us from doing what we wanted to do. Once we got the fouls under control, I thought we could make a run at them. We actually started playing better at the end of the first half.''

Terry (31-9) went on a 17-5 run to begin the second half and held Kimball scoreless for almost five minutes. In the middle of all of it was Griffin, a 6-7 football signee for Miami (Fla.) who intends to play basketball, too.

"My plan was to take the ball to the basket and when their guys came at me, it left our guys open,'' Griffin said. "Then I wanted to rebound.''

The state title was the first for the Terry basketball program.

Kimball (23-10) was unsuccessful in its bid for a third-straight Class 4A state crown. This one will known as the one that got away. The Knights enjoyed a 23-7 lead after just 11 minutes.

"We got in a little foul trouble and that had something to do with it,'' said Kimball coach Royce Johnson. "But Terry showed why they are here. They showed a lot of heart.''

Johnson said the big lead early might have worked against his team.

"We play better when we fear losing,'' the coach said. "We came back with a little too much emotion and I thought it drained us.''

It was still anybody's game in the final minutes, as Kimball led 47-42 with 3:45 to play. But they never scored again.

Terry took the lead for good on a layup by Dimetri Amerson with 1:36 remaining.

The lead went to three after a free throw by Eugene Wright with a minute to go. Wright missed the second foul shot, but Griffin slipped inside for the rebound and put-back for a 52-47 lead.

The Knights had three turnovers in the final minute.

Keith Frazier led Kimball with 24 points and eight rebounds, but struggled from the field (9-for-24).

Terry's Wright, a 5-9 senior guard and 9 inches shorter than Frazier, was a reason for that, according to Jackson.

"If Frazier went to the bathroom, I wanted Eugene to go with him,'' Jackson said. "He did an outstanding job of making Frazier take bad shots.''

Wright also contributed with 10 points.

The Kimball coach had high praise for Griffin.

"He's one of the best athletes we've seen in Texas in the last few years,'' said Johnson. "He's a leader. You could tell the moment in the game when he decided if they were going down, they'd go down playing hard.''

Kimball, which began the season with four straight losses, had to do a lot of growing this season to reach Austin, Johnson said.

"We have a lot of different faces from the last two years,'' Johnson said. "All they heard about was a three-peat. Those guys dealt with a lot. I'm not happy about the way it ended, but I'm satisfied.''

Madison (Dallas) 85, Yates (Houston) 72

Yates gained national attention when it was running up some outrageous point totals on the way to Class 4A state championships in 2009 and 2010.

Yates is still capable of putting up points. It has scored 100 or more in 12 games this season.

But in the Class 3A state championship game Saturday morning, Madison discovered that 24 turnovers can cause scoring difficulties for anyone, including Yates.

Madison's defense did its part, coming up with 12 steals and eight blocked shots.

Derrick Smith, Madison's 6-2 senior guard, filled up his line in the box score with 27 points, 14 rebounds and five steals.

Madison (32-4) didn't take the lead for good until JD Wallace layup in the final two minutes of the third quarter. A 9-0 run beginning at the midpoint of the fourth quarter put the finishing touches on the second Madison state championship in five years. The Trojans won the 2009 title and finished second the following season.

Leading Yates (32-5) was 6-6 senior forward Sadiq Inowa with 22 points on 11-for-15 shooting.

Yates, in its first season since dropping to Class 3A, was making its fourth state final appearance in five seasons. The Lions lost to Kimball in the Class 4A title game last year.

White Oak 56, Brock 54

Kris Anderson's layup with four seconds remaining carried White Oak (37-1) to its second-straight Class 2A state title-game win over Brock (32-7).

After Brock's Luke Hummel tied the score at 54 with a minute remaining, White Oak coach Ron Boyett called a timeout.

The strategy was for Anderson to dribble the clock down near mid-court. With eight seconds to play, the 5-7 senior began a drive, first to his left and then when a lane opened, to his right. When Anderson broke free of his defender, Brock's 6-3 sophomore Lance Ewell came over to help. Anderson floated his shot over Ewell's outstretched arm and into the hoop.

"Our plan was to put the ball in Kris' hands,'' said Boyett. "Basically we wanted to make sure we got the last shot. Worst-case scenario, we miss and go to overtime.

"He's dribbled that ball thousands of hours and today it paid off.''

Boyett said the lane opened for Anderson in part because of Brock's concern that Anderson might pass to an open shooter.

Four White Oak players scored in double figures, led by the 14 points of Skylar Sutton. Anderson, Hayden Nichols and Slade Sutton had 12.

"The kid made a great shot,'' said Brock coach Jeff Bell. "I couldn't be more proud of my players. I was on the Brock team in 1978 that lost in the state finals by one point. It still eats at me.''

Hummel led Brock with 18 points, going 6-for-9 on 3-pointers.

Boyett said back-to-back titles "are something you don't even dream about. These guys have done things the right way and stayed humble.''

Triple A Academy (Dallas) 80, Mumford 54

Jeremiah Jefferson scored 29 points and added 10 rebounds to lead the Stallions to the Class 1A Division 1 title.

Tyler Jefferson added 18 points and Frank Hollis had 12 for Triple A (28-5), making its first state tournament appearance.

Triple A went in front for good on a jumper by Gary Breaux with 4:45 to play in the first half and steadily pulled away from there.

Mumford (39-1) was the only undefeated team when the state tournament began. LaKendric Hyson, a 6-3 sophomore, led Mumford with 22 points.

The future looks bright for Triple A with no seniors on its roster.

Roxton 60, Douglass 54

Quinton Walker scored 20 points and Lester Green had 17 to lead Roxton (30-4) to the Class 1A Division 2 state crown.

Douglass (30-7) was led by Bryce Westbrook's 23 points and Reed Westbrook added 22.

Roxton led throughout the second half, but Douglass got as close as three points.