UIL State Tournament: Championship Saturday
1A Final
Lipan 46 Happy 43
The No.1 ranked Lipan Indians survived a scare from fourth-ranked Happy to claim the school's third ever state championship. Ty Bryant put up an MVP-worthy performance, scoring 17 and pulling down 7 boards. 9 of his points came in the 3rd quarter when Lipan stretched their lead to its biggest margin of the game. But in the fourth, Happy clamped down on the defensive end and actually had a chance to take the lead with less than a minute. But Lipan's Santana Martinez came up with a steal with 18 seconds left then made both free throws to put the Indians up by 3. Happy had two chances to tie, but the first attempt was no good and the ball was knocked away as time expired before a second shot could go up.
Despite being smaller than Lipan at nearly every positition, Happy actually out-rebounded the Indians 28-26. The play of Sterling White and Colton McCarley helped the Cowboys go toe-to-toe with the top team in 1A, scoring 33 of Happy's 43 points.
Lipan came into the championship game as consensus favorites for the title with a more impressive resume, but Happy proved doubters wrong by hanging tough and playing their own game for four quarters. The Cowboys finish the year at 25-6. Lipan completed their "Revenge Tour" after falling in the regional finals last year with a state championship.
3A Final
Dallas Madison 42 Brock 36
Brock gave No.1 ranked Dallas Madison all it could handle, but was ultimately undone by a poor third quarter where they were outscored 14-2 by the Trojans. Both teams struggled to score the ball in a tight opening half, with Amery Hughes hitting a 3 at the buzzer to gift Brock a 4 point halftime lead. Jacolby Sims scored 6 straight points right out of the break and Madison never looked back, eventually holding on for a 6 point win.
JeMichael Bowens had a quieter night than the semi-final against Santa Rosa, but still posted a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds. Senior guard Patrick Terry took home MVP honors as he scored 18 points in the win. For a half, the solid team defense and effective offense that Brock has become synonymous with looked like it would prevail over the more athletic and transition-based game of Madison. But not scoring until 30 seconds remained in the 3rd doomed Brock to a runner-up finish. Hughes led the Eagles with 15 while Taylor Perry chipped in with 9.
The final was a matchup of two of the most storied programs in the state for their size. Brock finishes the season at 30-9 in what was their 10th trip to the state tournament. Madison claimed the championship in their first year as part of class 3A, finishing the year at 28-8 in their 9th state tournament appearance and first since 2015.
2A Final
Muenster 73 Clarendon 45
After narrowly escaping an upset in overtime in the semi-final against Grapeland, top-ranked Muenster used a strong second half to run away from Clarendon for their first ever state championship. Colt Wood hit 5 threes in the first half to keep Clarendon within 10 at the break, but Muenster was simply not going to be denied a title. Wood finished with 18, while six-foot-4 big man Marshal Johnson scored 11. Blake Hoepfner was a force on offense again, posting a game-high 21 points on 9-12 shooting. John Weger shook off a rough game in the semi-final to put up 19, while Logan Cook finished with 15 and 14 boards.
Seniors Cook and Hoepfner (the championship MVP) were appearing in their 3rd state championship game, after being defeated by Canadian and Mumford in their two previous attempts. This time around there was no stopping the two of them, as every time Clarendon looked to cut into the Muenster lead, they would come up with the answer plus some.
Cal York hit the first two threes he looked at on the way to putting up 10, while Clay Stevens added 7. Muenster shot 60% from the field and 39% from behind the arc, while Clarendon was held to 31% on their field goals. The Hornets also won the battle on the boards, out-rebounding the Broncos 36-29. Clarendon finishes the year at 31-3. Muenster brought home the only state championship in any sport in school history, compiling a 33-6 record.
Mansfield Timberview 74 Fort Bend Marshall 66
It was a tale of two halves in the class 5A championship game. Marshall came out and forced turnovers and got out on the break to run to a 10 point halftime lead. Jabari Rice and Tajzmel Sherman combined for 21 in the first half, while Chris Mullins kept Timberview in the contest with 12. But Timberview wasn't done there, going on a 30-8 run to open the third quarter. Mullins would explode in the second half on the way to dropping 36, and garnered MVP honors after the game.
Timberview's trio of playmakers (Mullins, Tim Johnson, and Isaac Likekele) combined for 60 after combining for 55 in the semi-final. Rice and Sherman would finish with 20 and 17 respectively, with John Walker III adding 12.
Timberview marked their first appearance at the state tournament since 2009 by bringing home the 5A title. The Wolves finished the year at 32-7. Fort Bend Marshall's season came to an end as state runners-up and a record of 32-8.
Silsbee 89 Brazosport 83
Silsbee took home the 4A UIL State title after sophomore guard, Jordyn Adams scored a game-high 26 points. Adams added nine rebounds on his way to collecting the MVP award for his performance.
Brazosport took a 3-point lead into halftime, 39-36. Once the second half began, Silsbee turned up the heat and freshman point guard Brealon Bush finally got going on the offensive end of the ball scoring 13 of his 17 points in the third and fourth quarter.
Shots flew out of players hands and the pace continued to move up in tempo. The Tigers of Silsbee managed to go on a 32-15 run that gave them their biggest lead of the game, 68-54, with 1:16 to go in the 3rd.
In the 4th, senior point guard Chris Rossow inched Brazosport within four points of the Silsbees lead, 70-66, behind his 11 points in the quarter. Brazosport couldn't get any closer as the Tigers stretch the lead out to as many as 10-points, and eventually took home the title.