Defense and early 3-pointers carry Lions to Championship round
Defense helps Dallas Kimball squeezes past San Antonio Alamo Heights to play for second straight title
Austin – Two years removed from Austin, Yates entered the state tournament playing its best basketball of the season.
On Thursday night in the second class 4A semifinal at the Frank Erwin Center, 8,412 fans watched senior guard Damien Dotson poured in 26 points to help Yates defeat Denton Ryan by a score of 87-67 to setup a rematch of the 2009 final with Dallas Kimball.
The top ranked Lions (33-5) advanced to the title round for the third time in four years. Yates defeated the Knights 94-78 for its first title since joining the UIL in the mid 60’s.
Dotson, an Oregon’s commit, was brilliant going 7-of-17 from behind the arc. Teammate Santee scored 18 points while JC Washington tacked on 10
The Lions five first quarter 3-pointers helped carry a 26-15 lead into the second quarter. Dotson nailed three and senior point guard Clyde Santee had the other two.
A continuation watched Dotson and Santee drill consecutive treys to help Yates build a 32-15 lead early in the second quarter.
Yates was its norm, with its intensive pressure defense which set the ground while it led to numeral back-to-back baskets.
Denton Ryan ( 23-12) gave its best effort to begin the third quarter with a 9-0 run, slicing the deficit to ten, 46-36. However, Santee’s two free throw shots coupled with Martin’s layup, steaming from a steal, helped Yates to regain a 14-point lead.
The Raiders threaten one last time, when guard Trey Mohair knocked a free throw down paired with Trey Cook’s steal and layup to trim the deficit to 11. After, Ryan never mounted much, as Yates put the finishing touched on the victory, awaiting Saturday’s championship game.
Yates held 47-37 advantage on the boards and led by as many as 25 points with 4:28 left.
Marcus Holcomb led the Raiders with 21points,Trey Mohair had 19 and Sam Johnson added 17.
In the first Class 4A semifinal game, defending champion Dallas Kimball Knights eased by crowd favored San Antonio Alamo Heights 47-44 to earn its second straight title appearance.
Leading 45-35 with under a minute to play, Kimball (33-5) watched the Mules staged a desperate rally to close within three points of the Knights lead (46-43). Sophomore center Ben Lammer’s dunk got things started, followed by Dylan Lieck’s two 3-pointers which capped an 8-3 run with 22 seconds left.
Kimball’s coach Royce Johnson said, “I think we were a little distracted , our rhythm was thrown off on the bus ride over. We thought we left early enough, but we went a hundred yards in one hour.” All year long these guys never panic. They never seen me panic. They know I have a lot of confidence in them.”
One impressive note, senior point guard Shannon Lilly, Jr. took the tournament MVP honors for second consecutive year.
“It feels good that all of our hard work is paying off. We have a good relation as a team and I think we deserve it”, said Lilly said.
Junior guard Keith Frazier, one of the nation’s top shooting guards led Kimble with 22 points. While forward Shelby Lane and center Ben Lammers paced the Mules with 14 and 12 respectfully.
“I just let the game come to me. I tried not to do too much. My main focus was to play defense, said Keith Frazier.”
Heights (34-3) held a slight edge on the boards (38-34) but wasn’t able to withstand the Knights defensive pressure.
San Antonio Alamo Height’s coach Andrew Brewer said, “Kimball closes out so quick. We didn’t get ball movement like we would like to. Dylan shot the ball well, Jeffrey was 0-for-6. That’s the bad thing. If he makes two shots, we win the ball game.
Kimball forced seven first half turnovers and accumulated four blocks to help build a 15-point lead with 4:25 left in the second quarter. But, the Mules manage to cut the lead to eight, 28-20 with a 9-2 run. With some nifty work from Lane, who scored five of the Heights nine points and the other four were from Lammers and senior guard Jeffrey Rodewald.
