MANSFIELD – The Indians and Eagles gave us all the hype leading into Wednesday’s District 11-6A showdown, but it didn’t quite go according to the game plan. Lake Ridge was red hot and owned a 20-point lead before Waxahachie stormed back to pick up the key 74-68 win.
Waxahachie came in #22 in the TABC Class 6A rankings and is now in sole possession of first place in district at 6-0. Lake Ridge, ranked #7, dropped just its fourth game of the season while falling to 21-4 and 5-1.
Down 41-21 late in the second quarter, Waxahachie got two baskets just before the break to make it 41-25. 4-star 6-9 junior center Parker Jefferson nailed a three. Then Jefferson assisted on a Jeremiah Rucker layup and later dunked a ball to cut the deficit to 41-33 to force a timeout by Lake Ridge.
The run continued to 14-0 on Jefferson’s low post move and then Jefferson’s three-point play extended it to 17 straight as Hachie trailed 41-37 midway through the third. According to 247Sports, Jefferson holds nine offers and is ranked #16 among the nation’s top centers and #13 among all 2025s in Texas.
Ahmare Rose ended the Hachie run with a jumper for Ridge, but a three from the Indians tied it at 45.
Both teams got a score late while Hachie also got free throws as the Indians led 49-47 after three.
It was Waxahachie’s first lead of the night.
Superstar guard King Grace scored a bucket for Hachie and Trae Nunn drained a three to push the Indians’ lead to 54-49 in the fourth quarter. Two more threes from the Indians and Ridge trailed by 11 with just over six minutes to play. But while Ridge trailed by 13, the Eagles also made a comeback.
Amir McMillian, who had a big first half for the Eagles, scored eight of the next 10 for Ridge to help pull within 69-66 with 55.2 left on the clock. But Nunn and Jefferson hit free throws down the stretch to send Hachie home with the dub.
Jefferson scored 15 of his 23 points in the second half.
Grace, who recently surpassed 1,000 career points, added 14.
Rucker chipped in 15 while Isayah Pankey and Nunn finished with 12 and 9, respectively.
McMillian led Ridge with a game-high 25 points and Rose added 15 for the Eagles.
Ridge stormed out to an early double-digit lead and led by 16 after the first quarter. A reverse layup by Rose got the lead to 17-7 which forced a timeout by Waxahachie. Matthew Alexander hit a long pass to McMillian, who finished off the easy layup just before the buzzer and the Eagles were ahead 23-7 after eight minutes of play.
Two more buckets by McMillian and the lead was 31-11 Ridge with five minutes left in the second.
