On the road with Texas Hoops: Wagner takes NS/NE Championship

San Antonio - After spending Thursday and Friday in Houston, TexasHoops.com's recruiting analyst Blue Zertuche traveled to San Antonio to wrap up the weekend watching the Championship games of the Northside/Northeast Annual Tournament.

The dominating play of the Northside/Northeast All-Tournament player, Tristan Clark for the Wagner Thunderbirds was too much for the Stevens Falcons to overcome during the championship game.

The Baylor-bound Clark finished with 21 points, 11 rebounds and four block shots for the Thunderbirds who won by 20, 77-57.

The game started off tight as Wagner held a lead of 14-12 at the end of the first quarter. Junior forward Jon Salazar for the Falcons hit two of his five total three-pointers during the first eight minutes of play. After the first, the Thunderbirds outscored the Falcons 46-25 in the middle quarters that would eventually lift them to the title.

The Falcons simply didn't have any inside presence to counter either Clark or 6-foot-6 junior Justice Tolbert who totaled 10 points. The guards for the Thunderbirds penetrated the Falcons defense and made layups. Sophomore point guard Jalen Jackson scored 10 while shooting guard DaRaun Clark added 11 points of his own in the high-powered offense.

Another sophomore for Wagner was Kevin McCullar who also had 11 points. McCullar scored 10 of his 11 in the third quarter, connecting on two three-pointers.

Salazar wasn't the only Falcon who reached double digits. Junior scoring point guard Quenton Coleman finished with 15.

Rodney Clark, head coach of the TABC’s No.3 ranked Thunderbirds felt that the overall effort from his team showed in the win.

“We came out with energy,” said Clark of his team’s defense. “This was by far the best defensive game we’ve played. We had guys talking and moving their feet, and the score reflected their efforts.”

Being a top 6A program in the state with high expectations, Clark says that he expects more than what people think of his team.

“There is no running from what people across the state say abouts us,” Clark said. “Social Media says this or that about us, and we have to play at a high level. Still, there's room to grow and improve. We are ranked No.3, but I tell our guys we still have room to move up and to improve.”

Clark continues.

“We talked over the last few days that you enter tournaments to try and win. [The players] in our program have enough talent and skill to do whatever they want on the court. And I let them know that they will be coached as a team trying to win championships.”

Senior guard William Brueggeman had a 20-point outburst in the first-half and it played a huge role in helping the Strake Jesuit Crusaders (Houston) stay within striking distance of the San Antonio Churchill Chargers’ five point half-time lead, 42-37.

Coming out of the break, the Crusaders held the Chargers to only nine third-quarter points while going on a 16-1 run.

In the second half, Strake relied less on Brueggeman’s scoring and spread the ball around to catch Churchill. Jordan Pride and James Drexler combined for 27 second half points for the Crusaders and Pride finished the game with 16 while Drexler added 15. The Crusaders came from behind to beat the Chargers 77-73 to conclude their weekend in San Antonio by winning the third place crown.

The Chargers were led by Air Force signee Jeff Fesperman and his 23 points. Fesperman nailed five three-pointers. Junior point guard Alex Estrada connected on two three-pointers to go for 21 points. Texas Baseball commit, 6-foot-8 Jack Neely hit double digits with 15.

After a first-round loss to San Antonio Warren, the Central Catholic Buttons won three straight games in the Northside/Northeast Tournament to claim the consolation championship Saturday afternoon.

Senior guard Grant Keller scored a game-high 22 points for the Buttons as they beat San Antonio Jefferson 70-54.

Junior post,6-foot-5 Alex Condrad of Central Catholic finished with 21 and sophomore Sam Gallardo chipped in with 10.

The Jefferson Mustangs started the second quarter with a five point lead 16-11, but the Buttons were able to tie the game at 31 to go into the half.

After the break, the Buttons went on a 23-12 run to take an eleven point advantage into the fourth (54-43) and never gave the Mustangs a chance to get back into the game.

Noah Soto led Jefferson with 16.