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The UIL high school boys basketball season came to an end on Saturday March 8 at the Alamodome in San Antonio. Six of the 12 state champs came from the DFW/North Texas area with Perrin-Whitt first taking the Class 1A Division 1 title over Turkey Valley 65-46 on Thurday.
Jack McCormick dropped a game-high 28 points and was voted state champ MVP.
A total of nine teams from the area made the trip south.
Lipan lost to Martin’s Mill 55-43 on Thurday and Paradise lost to Kountze 67-41 on Friday. Then DFW had one team in the final six championships with Kennedale (4A D2), Dallas Kimball (4A D1), Mansfield Summit (5A D2), Birdville (5A D1), Denton Guyer (6A D2) and Duncanville (6A D1).
Kenndale 69, Houston Wheatley 65
Trey Smith set a UIL 4A state championship record with 10 steals as the Wildcats won their first title since 2008. Smith was voted state champ MVP with 22 points on 10 of 18 shooting, four rebounds and two assists.
Jacoby Lovings added 16 points, six boards and four assists.
Bryson Nickerson chipped in 11 points, six rebounds and three steals.
A’meir Williams brought down a game-high 14 boards.
Kennedale (34-7) made its third state Final Four and first since 2014. The Wildcats trailed 18-12 after the first quarter and were down 36-34 at the intermission. A three-point jumper from Lovings gave Kenndale a 46-44 lead with 56 seconds left in the third quarter.
The fourth quarter was tightly contested and Kennedale trailed 57-53 with 4:28 to go. Smith made a layup to cut the lead to two and Jackson Stingley made a layup to tie it at the 3:45 mark.
Kennedale’s run went up to nine straight points on a 3-point play from Lovings and Nickerson layup to give the Wildcats a 62-57 edge with 2:34 to play. Wheatly cut it to 63-62 with 66 seconds left, but Lovings hit two free throws after drawing a foul on the following possession.
Smith got a steal and drew a foul before hitting 1 of 2 at the line for a 66-62 lead. Williams added another Kennedale steal and Lovings knocked down a pair to push the Wildcats ahead 68-62. Wheatley hit a three to trim the deficit to 68-65 with five seconds left. Smith hit 1 of 2 at the charity stripe to ice the game.
Smith’s 10 steals breaks the previous record set by Dallas Madison’s Admon Gilder, who had nine steals in 2014. Smith also tied the overall record by any classification with Brownfield’s Alex McCrary, who had 10 steals in a game in 2016. Kennedale finished with 22 steals – second most in Class 4A and tied for fifth most in any classification.
Dallas Kimball 71, Houston Washington 48
Marri Wickware scored 10 points on 10 of 13 shooting with seven rebounds, four assists and five steals as the Knights won their 8th state championship in program history.
Kimball (29-5) broke a tie with Port Arthur Lincoln and Buma for second most titles in UIL history – trailing Snook’s 10 titles.
The Knights also won in 2023. It was the program’s 15th appearance in the Final Four – tied for sixth most.
After a neck-and-neck opening quarter where Kimball led 20-19, the Knights began to pull away with a 19-4 advantage in the second. They led 39-23 at the break.
Wickware’s 76.9% from the field is tied for sixth highest in a Class 5A state game (with at least 10 made shots). Kimball went 30 of 61 in total while holding Washington to 20 of 63 (31.7%).
Lance Carr scored 17 points on 7 of 11 shooting with nine rebounds, four blocks and four steals. Jaylin Hancock and Jay Dean-Vines both added 10 points. Dean-Vines added 13 boards and three assists.
Mansfield Summit 54, Fort Bend Marshall 47
The Jaguars held off a late rally by Marshall to win their first state championship in program history. It was Summit’s second trip to the Final Four – falling in the semis against Killeen Ellison in 2023.
It was also the first boys title for Mansfield ISD since Timberiew beat San Antonio Wagner in 2019. Timberview also made the tourney in 2020, but didn’t play due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Summit (34-7) opened the final quarter with a 12-point lead. The Jags got up 15 after a 3-pointer by Caleb Richard with 3:50 left to play. But just under three minutes later, Marshall answered with a 16-6 run and got within five at the 1:07 mark.
But Marshall missed back-to-back 3-pointers and two free throws and Summit big man Ian Sedah knocked down three free throws as the lead went to 51-43 with 32 seconds remaining.
The Jags led 25-13 at the intermission.
Sedah was named state champ MVP with 17 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals. He made 13 of 17 free throws – tied for fourth most makes in a Class 5A state game.
Theo Brannan and Richard chipped in 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Summit had knocked off Ellison in this year’s semifinals.
Beaumont West Brook 63, Birdville 57 OT
Birdville erased an 18-point lead to force overtime, but fell up short of the program’s first state championship. It was Birdville’s first trip to the Final Four and first for Birdville ISD since Haltom made it in 1964.
Haltom also made it in 1950, but lost in the semifinals both times.
Sawyer Dotson scored a team-high 25 points for the Hawks, who end the season 36-4. Dotson shot 8 of 14 from the field and hit four 3-pointers along with five rebounds and four steals. Trent Bowers added 15 points, five boards and four steals.
The Hawks trailed 13-11 after the first quarter and 29-20 at the break. Their biggest deficit came at 38-20 with 5:50 left in the third quarter. Avery Webb hit a three and a layup to pull within 38-25. Bowers and Dotson made back-to-back layups and it was 40-29 at the 3:24 mark.
Another layup from Bowers and Dotson, and five free throws got Birdville within 44-37 with seconds left in the period. But West Brook was fouled on a 3-point attempt – making all three at the stripe and the Hawks were down 10 entering the fourth.
Birdville scored the first nine points of the final quarter on threes by Tasshir Pina-Warren and Bowers and a 3-point play from Dotson. Another trey from Dotson tied the game at 51 with 3:29 left to play. One more three from Dotson and the Hawks went ahead at 54-52 at the 2:29 mark. West Brook scored the next four to have a two-point lead before Webb’s layup tied it at 56-all with 41 seconds.
However, the Hawks scored only one point in the overtime period – missing four free throws attempts, getting off only two attempts from the field and committing four turnovers.
Denton Guyer 48, Katy Jordan 47
Silas Rodriguez hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 29 seconds left and Guyer held on to win its first state championship in program history. The Wildcats (35-7) were making the Final Four for the first time.
It was Denton ISD’s first state appearance since Ryan in 2012 and first championship game appearance since Ryan won the 4A title in 2000.
Rodriguez was voted state champ MVP with a game-high 20 points on 8 of 18 shooting, four 3-pointers and three rebounds. Mason White added 10 points and Jordan Lowery finished with eight points, 10 boards and five assists.
Guyer led 17-8 after the first quarter and 26-20 at the break.
The Wildcats trailed 35-34 after three.
Guyer’s largest lead came at 24-10 in the second quarter while Jordan rallied back to take a 35-30 lead in the third quarter.
Duncanville 54, Houston Bellaire 52
The Panthers held off a game-winning 3-pointer with time expiring to win their sixth state title in program history. It was their 10th time in the Final Four and seventh time in the championship game.
Duncanville (28-7) won the title in 2022 against McKinney, but the UIL stripped the Panthers of the championship because of the ineligibility status of Anthony Black, who is now playing for the Orlando Magic. They also made the tourney in 2020, but didn’t play due to COVID-19.
TCU commit Kayden Edwards was voted state champ MVP with 23 points on 9 of 24 shooting, three 3-pointers and six rebounds. Chris Hunt Jr. chipped in 14 points on 6 of 10 shooting. Cam Smith added nine points, 11 boards and three assists. Beckham Black, the younger brother of Anthony Black, had four boards, six assists and two steals.
Bellaire led 10-9 after the first quarter, but Duncanville was up 22-21 at the break. The Panthers were up two after the third quarter.
The lead grew to eight with 5:35 left to play after a Hunt layup.
Bellaire pulled within three on a 3-pointer from Shelton Henderson with 2:06 remaining. Smith hit 1 of 2 from the stripe for a four-point play. Henderson tipped in a miss to cut it to 54-52 with 47 seconds. Black missed a layup and Bellaire called a timeout after a defensive rebound.
But Jadarian Williams’ 3-pointer missed at the buzzer.
