Area basketball teams fall in playoffs

March 2, 2010

Dawson, Friendswood, and Pearland advanced to the post-season, but their playoff run was shortlived as Dawson fell in the opening round while Friendswood and Pearland both won their bi-district rounds before being eliminated in the area round.

Dawson went 2-5 in the District 24-4A race in the opening round and head coach Mark Barre knew that if his roundballers were going to have any shot at making the playoffs for the first time in their young two-year varsity history -- the Eagles would need to post a minimum 4-3 mark in the second half while getting some help.

"We gave our kids the goal of finishing no less than 4-3 which was realistic for us," Barre said. "If we got lucky, we might go 5-2."

The Eagles accomplished their goal of 4-3 and got the needed help to become the No. 4 seed from the district pitting them against Lamar Consolidated.

The Dawson boys basketball team almost pulled off a major upset before falling to Lamar Consolidated, 67-64 in overtime.

The game ended in regulation with both teams tied at 57 entering the extra period. But the Mustangs outscored the Eagles 10-7 in the four-minute frame to get the win and end Dawson's dream of getting their first basketball playoff win in school history.

Both teams were tied at 17 after one quarter before Dawson took a 30-29 lead at halftime. The Eagles increased the lead to 43-41 entering the final quarter.

Dawson (14-18) was led by Craig Grigsby with 20 points, Anthony Miles added 17 and Piaget Gauthier tossed in 12.

Friendswood nails Foster before getting routed by Yates

Trailing for most of the game, the Friendswood Mustangs finally took advantage of a fourth quarter meltdown by Foster to pull out a 62-55 win over the Falcons who were looking for their first playoff win in school history.

Friendswood never had the lead in the game until there was 5:22 left in the fourth quarter. The Falcons (16-14), who had a five-point lead at halftime and a three-point lead early in the fourth quarter saw Friendswood (26-6) took the lead for good when, with the game knotted at 43, the second of Mark Garza’s two free throws missed the mark but was tapped in when Foster and Friendswood players made a play for the rebound.

Friendswood’s Byron Randle drove the lane, scored and was fouled. He made a free throw and gave the Mustangs their largest lead of the night, 48-43, with 4:54 left.

Friendswood' Connor Neuman then stole a bad pass and took the ball the other way for an easy layup and a seven-point lead, 50-43, with 4:15 left.

The Mustangs held their own the rest of the way to post the bi-district win to advance to play No. 1 nationally-ranked Houston Yates.

Neuman finished with 14 points while Randle and Garza tossed in 13 each.

Yates 104 - Friendswood 48

Speed and more speed was the theme of the night when the No. 1 nationally-ranked and defending 4A state champions crushed the Friendswood Mustangs 104-48.

Yates topped the 100-point mark for the 11th straight time to give them the state record in that category as well.

With 3:43 left in the first quarter, Yates was clinging to a 13-12 lead. When the first period was over, the Lions were leading 26-12 after going on a 13-0 run.

The Mustangs committed 40 turnovers as a result of the constant pressure while missing over a dozen layups. Yates was ahead 52-22 at intermission.

Everyone knew, including Friendswood, that the only thing left was to try and keep them from passing the century mark for the state record.

Friendswood elected to keep attacking instead of stalling the ball. That allowed Yates(29-0) to reach the 100-point mark with 1:17 remaining on a long 3-pointer by Joseph Young, who led all scorers with 38 points. Brandon Peters scored 24 and Trey Dickerson had 15.

Friendswood didn’t have a player in double figures. Connor Neuman led the Mustangs with eight points. Also scoring were Byron Randle (seven), Nathan Harvey (six), Jackson Griffon (six), Mark Garza (five), Dylan Darden (four), Keith Canada (four), Pete Maetzold (three), Kevin Wilson (three) and James Petri (two).

There were more than 3,500 people, and several hundred more were turned away at the gate.

“Everyone should get a chance to play in this environment,” Chandler said. “Around school and town, everyone was going nuts about this game. My phone was blowing up with calls and text messages. A lot of people wanted us to win this game. I’m sorry we couldn’t do it.”

Despite the loss, Friendswood fans should not be ashamed of the Mustangs who posted a 26-6 mark for the season and was a top 10 area-ranked team all season.

Fort Bend Travis 61 - Pearland 51

The Pearland Oilers won their opening playoff game game against North Shore on a final shot at the buzzer and it appeared that the game against Fort Bend Travis would also be a close contest.

Pearland trailed 12-11 after the first quarter and then took a 26-25 lead at intermission. Travis outscored the Oilers 13-7 in the third for a 38-33 cushion.

But the fourth quarter proved to be the downside for Pearland as the Tigers went on a 14-2 run while not allowing the Oilers to score the first four minutes of the final stanza giving them a 52-37 advantage.

Travis hit crucial free throws in the final minutes (9-of-12) to close out the season for the Oilers 61-51.

Junior Shai Fields led the Pearland offense with 20 points.

Pearland closed out the year with a respectable 23-15 season mark.

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