On the road with Texas Hoops: Mesquite, MacArthur, Midway, and Jesuit win

Dallas - TexasHoops.com started the three-day tournament weekend at the 54th annual Knights of Columbus Classic held on the campus of Dallas Jesuit. Texas Hoops Analyst Blue Zertuche caught all four games in the opening round of bracket play which started Thursday afternoon.

The Mesquite Skeeters’ sophomore guard Markhael Stillwell drained a three-pointer as time expired to send the game to overtime. After trailing for nearly the entire game, the Skeeters took the first round win against the Frisco Lone Star Rangers, 54-51.

Mesquite was down 13 going into the half, 30-17, and came out in the second half and applied pressure for most of the third and fourth quarters. The Skeeters efforts held the Rangers to 11 third quarter points while going on a 37-22 run in the second half. The Skeeters defense held the Rangers to only two fourth quarter points.

Mesquite received 23 points from senior guard Anthony McGee on 9-for-21 shooting. Teammate Aaron Sanders finished with a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Senior point guard Cameron Gooden scored a team-high of 18 for Lone Star and was the only Ranger in double figure scoring. Sophomore Isaiah Lewis struggled from the field but grabbed nine boards.

What the coach said...

"We talked about how many first half points we gave up," said Brian Curts, head coach of Mesquite. "We like to keep teams at 10 or less at the end of each quarter, so we had some adjustments to make. We did a better job in the second half getting our hands out in the passing lanes and staying with our man."

In another overtime thriller, Irving MacArthur beat Fort Worth Southwest 68-64. MacArthur guards, sophomore Tristian Starks and senior Zay Booker combined for 43 of the Cardinals 68 points.

Going into the half, MacArthur had a two-point advantage 32-30 and opened their lead up to eight, 49-41 by the end of the third. In the fourth, Southwest caused turnovers and their pressure held MacArthur to eight total points in the fourth and tied the game with seven seconds left off a bank three-pointer by Bailey (Only name in the book).

In overtime, it was Starks and Booker who took over the extra four minutes. Starks scored five of his 21 in overtime and Booker went for four of his game-high 26. Booker got off to a quick start on the offensive side of the ball knocking in four first-half three-pointers.

Southwest was led by juniors Tracy Edwards and his 14 points and teammate Michael Underwood added 13.

Amarillo Tascosa tried to take the third game of the day into overtime, but Waco Midway had enough to hold on in a 64-62 win. Midway had senior Xavier Armstead go for 17 points and five rebounds in the two -point victory.

Midway was down by nine at half, 35-26, but in the third, Midway turned up the pressure on the defensive end and allowed for only six Tascosa third quarter points, and caused 24 total turnovers.

The eleven point turnaround was also fueled by the play of 6-foot-9 Jesse "Bubba" Furlong, a Sam Houston State signee had a solid performance with a 13 point six rebound outing.

Shahada Wells, a 6-foot senior for Tascosa finished with a game-high 24 points, on 4-for-8 shooting from behind the arc.

What the coach said...

"I thought our depth was the deciding factor in the game," said Head coach Brad Chasteen from Midway. "[Tascosa] played their main guys and we thought we could jump on them since we can play eleven guys. We had energy on the defensive end and we did a great job."

Frisco Heritage made the final game of the night exciting as they made a late run playing tournament host Dallas Jesuit. Jesuit was in control of the game, and never lost the lead, but they were tested allowing for Heritage to get within two points of the lead a few times. Jesuit won 69-67.

The Jesuit Rangers held a 39-32 lead at half, only to see it shrink throughout the game, but the scoring of unsigned senior Mitch Prendergast hit shots early. The 6-foot guard tallied 23 points on 8-for-16 from the field and 4-for-7 from the arc. He added six assists. Fellow Ranger, sophomore Max Abmas hit 14 points of his own, going 6-for-11 and nailing 2-of-4 from behind the three-point line. Rounding out the scoring for Jesuit was junior Michael Jankovich. He finished with 12 points, converting on 2-of-5 threes and dished out four assists, and grabbed eight boards.

What the coach said...

"He has the green light," said head Jesuit coach Chris Hill of his guard Prendergast. "He is one of the more explosive players that we have had here in my nine years. When he gets hot, we know that ball is going in."

Hill knows that his Rangers aren't as good defensively as in years past, but he feels comfortable where the offense is this time of the year.

"We have some things to work on defensively, but we will fix that. I'm used to being more scrappy on the defensive end, but offensively, we are good. We can shoot the ball, and I am going to let them. We have confident and aggressive shooters."