By Brian Gosset
X – @gosset41
X – @gmsportsmedia1
Zion Robinson and Caden Shaver led Mansfield in scoring, but the Tigers couldn’t keep up with Little Elm during its 92-72 loss in a Class 6A Division II regional semifinal on Tuesday night at Hebron High School.
Mansfield ends 24-9 with its most wins since the 2006-07 season.
The Tigers enjoyed a bounce back year after going 13-17 overall and 4-8 in district last season. This was their first trip to the playoffs since 2021.
Little Elm (34-2) will play Grand Prairie (29-4) in the Region I final. Grand Prairie edged out Crowley 65-63 on Tuesday night.
The Lobos, No. 3 in the 6A rankings according to the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches, led 21-15 after the first quarter and then outscored the Tigers by 15 points in the second.
Little Elm led 72-45 after three frames.
Kensington Candler led all scorers with 26 points. Little Elm had 10 players that scored, including 13 by Joshua Weems and 12 from Ian Berry.
Robinson led Mansfield with 22 points while Shaver chipped in 19. KT Turner added 11 points.
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Steven McLeod, a 3-star power forward, finished with 28 points and 12 rebounds as Grand Prairie survived a late rally by Crowley, 65-63 in a Class 6A Division II regional semifinal on Tuesday night at Ellis Davis Field House in Dallas.
Grand Prairie (29-4) will play Little Elm (34-2) in the Region I final. Little Elm defeated Mansfield 92-72 on Tuesday night.
Crowley (15-17) scored seven straight points to take a 19-16 lead with five minutes left in the second quarter.
But the Gophers, No. 17 in the 6A rankings according to the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches, ended the half with a 15-3 run. They led 31-22 at the intermission as McLeod had 16.
Grand Prairie’s largest lead was 19 in the third before the Eagles made their comeback.
Crowley cut the deficit to 13 at the end of three and then pulled within 62-56 with 2:10 left in the final stanza. Victor James nailed a three-pointer that made it a four-point game with 1:17 on the clock.
The Gophers were horrible from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter, going 9 of 11 in the final two minutes that kept Crowley in the game.
Down 65-63 with 1.3 seconds left, Crowley held possession under the opposite basket. Jaelon Germany received the inbound pass and got a shot up at half court, but the ball went off the back of the rim.
