17 point lead dwindles as Odunsi, twins Aaron and Andrew Harrison convert down the stretch
Fort Bend Travis shook off a terrible first half to down a hard nose Seven Lakes team 55-51 in the Class 5A Region III Semifinals Friday night at the Campbell Center.
The victory moved the Tigers (33-5) into the Finals where they will face district rival Hightower for the fourth time this season. They are 3-0 against the Hurricanes who defeated Madison 78-64 in the night cap of the double header.
Nerves took on the start of the game as both teams missed fired and turned the ball over several times before settling down.
The Spartans rushed out to a 16-8 first quarter lead. They continued the trend in the second quarter while the Tigers struggled to get on track.
Princeton Onwas got the second quarter started with an electrifying Ally Hoop that pumped up the Spartan Fans. Point Guard Trey Pinkney followed with a 3-pointer from outside NBA range that opened up the lead, 21-8. With two technical foul shots from Pinkney, Seven Lakes cap their largest lead of the game, 26-9 with 5:34 to go in the second quarter.
“We wanted to cut the lead to ten at least by halftime and we got it to twelve. We knew we are a good team; we just didn’t hit anything shots in the first half,” said Travis Coach Craig Brownson.
Down 28-16 at intermission, Travis entered the third quarter with more determination as they got off to a 4-0 start when Anthony Odunsi banked home a shot coupled with Reggie Davis layup to pull the Tigers within eight, 28-20.
Anthony Odunsi had a team high 16 points and Aaron Harrison tacked on 12 to lead Travis.
Seven Lakes Cold shooting, allowed the Tigers to gain the momentum in second half. Andrew Harrison stroked a trey with 3:08 to go as Tigers trailed by four, 32-28. Aaron Harrison’s layup gave Travis their first lead of the game.
“We just felt like we didn’t want to lose,” said Aaron Harrison. “We didn’t want to go home after we’ve came this far.”
Leading 40-37 going into the fourth quarter, Travis kept a strong hold on the momentum.
The Spartans (33-7) shot 24 percent from the field and was hurt by a few costly turnovers. Atif Russell free throws knotted the game at 47 for Seven Lakes. From there Travis went back on top to stay when Andrew Harrison was good on two free throws.
“Whenever you see Travis everyone comes to play,” said Travis guard Anthony Odunsi. “We have a target on our backs.”