Plano East junior Dylan Glass (12) attempts to dribble the ball past Plano defender Brayden Jones on Feb. 3. Photo by Andy Redmond / C&S Media
By David Wolman
The landscape for District 6-6A boys basketball has undergone a seismic shift over the last week.
For Plano East, it couldn’t have ended any better.
The Panthers defeated McKinney 45-40 on Friday and, coupled with Allen’s 70-60 road loss to McKinney Boyd later that night, finished the week alone atop the District 6-6A standings.
Allen’s loss to McKinney Boyd snapped a 27-game road district winning streak for the Eagles. As for Plano East (25-6 overall, 11-2 District 6-6A), its victory over McKinney extended its winning streak to seven games.
In a nip-and-tuck contest throughout, the difference came during a 15-10 scoring run by Plano East that gave the Panthers a 37-34 lead entering the fourth quarter. McKinney (16-10, 8-6) had held a 24-22 advantage at halftime.
Senior forward Moustafa Abualneel delivered in the clutch for Plano East, scoring a team-high 17 points. Alex Brewington added six points in the win, followed by five from Triston Pressley, four from Jayden Parker and three apiece from Donavan Woods and Luke Wasemiller.
Plano East had the opportunity to further distance itself from Allen on Tuesday night, with a win putting the Panthers closer to securing their second district title in the past three seasons. Results were unavailable at press time. Plano East returns to action Friday at Princeton.
Also last week, Plano East rallied from an early deficit to outlast Plano 61-52 on the road.
Plano led 18-15 at the end of the first quarter, but Plano East responded with a 17-5 run in the second quarter to take a 32-23 halftime lead.
Abualneel and Keagan Ho scored 11 points apiece to pace a balanced offensive attack for the Panthers. Parker finished with 10 points, while RJ Robinson added seven and Brewington chipped in six.