Bush’s fourth quarter transition
game disposes Lakeview Centennial
Austin – In only their ninth year of school attendance, the Broncos have reached the top. Knocking off two of the state’s top ranked schools never took the focus off a mission they set out to accomplish and with a coach that’s been there before. Coach Ronnie Courtney led Willowridge to a couple of state titles in 2000 and 2001.
After defeating No.1 ranked Bellaire 55-53 for the class 5A region III title, the Broncos entered the Frank Erwin Center with soaring confidence.
The relaxed Broncos played as if they had been here before.
Fort Bend Bush (35-4) calmly took out Garland Lakeview Centennial Patriots 65-58 for their first ever state championship in any sport for the Broncos Saturday night.
“These guys don’t care who gets the glory, Jordan could have been MVP. I thought they could have been co-MVP (speaking of Jordan Clark and Darius Richardson) because they carried my team all year and it’s a shame they had to pick one but they picked a good one. I guarantee you there’s no jealousy among the guys now, Bush’s Coach Courtney said.
Bush controlled the tempo early as they took a 12-11 first quarter lead.
Jordan Clark’s monster dunk coupled with Darius Richardson’s trey put the Broncos up 6, 19-13 to set the tone in the second quarter.
The Patriots trimmed Bush’s lead to one on consecutive three pointers, 23-22. One of the threes came from Bryan Lipsey. Centennial would later take 26-25 halftime lead.
Lakeview Centennial went up by as many as 9 points, 42-33 late in the third quarter.
“Not again, I was like, I let my team down (speaking of when he picked up his 4th foul) but I knew they were going to step up and take my position because they always do and they’re going to work hard. They have the determination,” said Bush’s forward Jordan Clark.
The tide began to change in the 4th quarter for Bush, Richardson’s bank shot off the glass and Rodshard Davis was fouled while converting a layup, that sparked the Broncos cutting the deficit to one, 42-41.
Bush had a chance to regain the lead with 6:25 to go but Richardson missed both free throws.
Less than a minute later, Davis was fouled Ryan Williams, sending him to the free throw line where he made good on both free throws to give the Broncos a one point lead, 43-42.
The Broncos went on to secure the win as all the pieces fell in place at the right time.
Richardson led the way with 25 points, seven rebounds while picking up the MVP honors.
“We knew they wanted to get up and down the floor (Lakeview Centennial). We made them play defense for 15 or 20 seconds, that killed what they really wanted to do and fortunately we were able to get points off our offense and do things that got us good looks at the basket. That eliminated them from getting down the floor real fast,” Bush’s Coach Ronnie Courtney said.
