FORT WORTH — Last season, Denton advanced to the third round of the playoffs for the first time in 40 years.
Now, bids to the Sweet 16 are becoming routine for the ascending program.
Denton (28–4) advanced to the regional semifinals for a second straight year with a 58-51 win over Mansfield Timberview (28–5) in the area round of the 5A Division I Region I playoffs on Friday night at Chisholm Trail High School. The program managed just three victories in the season before coach Michael Thomas took over in 2022.
“The kids have trusted and believed in what we’re doing, and that’s the key,” Thomas said.
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Omaha signee Ethan Sheats finished with a team-high 21 points in the win, while senior Lojok Loliwa added 14. Denton held a 5-point advantage at the end of the first quarter, but Timberview rallied in the second to trail 22-21 at halftime.
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Denton, which had several takeaways and transition buckets Friday, outscored Timberview 21-9 in a pivotal third quarter. The program closed the penultimate quarter on a 10-0 run.
“I told myself: ‘Let’s not fall in love with the three,’” Thomas said. “We shot four straight threes and they scored on every one of the missed threes …The other adjustment was keeping them off the offensive glass.”
Those adjustments worked and carried into the final period.
Ethan Ashu’s slam off an assist from Loliwa with just more than two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter gave Denton a 53-40 lead before Timberview closed the distance as the clock dwindled.
Timberview, ranked 12th among the state’s 5A teams, became the latest state-ranked team Denton bested this season. Denton was ranked No. 3 in the state entering the playoffs and secured the District 6-5A title earlier this month.
The program looks to make more history next week against Amarillo in the regional semifinals.
— Myah Taylor
Fly your flag! See photos from Denton’s playoff basketball matchup with Mansfield Timberview
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Allen 46, South Grand Prairie 43: CARROLLTON – Allen’s Nehemiah Lawrence feels he didn’t play well, but the senior guard hit the biggest shot when it mattered most in No. 24 Allen’s 46-43 win over No. 23 South Grand Prairie in the area final Friday night.
The lead changed four times in the final two minutes of the game at Carrollton Creekview High School. South Grand Prairie had just taken a 43-42 lead with a 1:21 left on a floater in the lane from senior guard Micahi Jackson. Before the fourth period, Lawrence had been held to just one point but was still the floor general initiating the offense for Allen.
The 5-f6 senior dribbled into the post before turning baseline and finishing at the rim against two taller SGP defenders to give Allen a 44-43 edge with less than a minute to play. Lawrence finished with seven points, six of them coming in the final period of play.
“Man, it wasn’t a good game for me at all,” Lawrence said. “But I feel like I weathered and my teammates picked me up, even through stressful times.
“Even when we turned it over and they took the lead with like a minute 30 left, everybody was still calm, cool and collected.”
South Grand Prairie’s next possession saw Allen’s interior defense stand tall as SGP missed three consecutive looks at the rim before junior Cadarian Urune-Williams secured the rebound with just over more than 30 seconds left. SGP had one last shot to tie it after Harris hit late free throws, but the 3-point attempt fell short.
Allen led most of the game, but SGP took its first lead since the opening quarter, 41-40, on a JB Pirtle layup with two minutes to play. Urune-Williams responded the next time down with a contested hanging layup and regained the lead for Allen. Urune-Williams finished with a team-high 15 points including a pair of dunks.
“We knew it would be a dogfight,” Allen head coach Clark Cipolette said. “We knew it was something that we had to show up and fight and just kind of be a gritty game, and I was just overly proud of how we found the way.”
After a sloppy start for both teams, in which they combined for 16 first-half turnovers, Allen eventually built a 29-20 lead in the third period. SGP then closed the period on a 5-0 run from Jackson to close the deficit again. The contest was Allen’s 14th game decided by single digits this season.
“This has been an up-and-down season as far as we’ll get some good leads and we’ll go through roller coasters,” Cipolette said. “That’s what basketball is. We have some veteran guys on the team who’ve played a lot of varsity basketball, and they’re my coach on the floor, and they can weather those storms for me.”
Pirtle led South Grand Prairie with 10 points, and Jackson finished with nine.
Allen will advance to the regional semifinal to take on Eaton next week at a date to be determined.
— Ishmael Johnson
Duncanville 45, Wylie 25: Duncanville’s title defense continued on Friday night with a convincing win over Wylie in the area round of the 6A Division I Region II playoffs. Christopher Hunt Jr. scored 10 points in the win, while Jirehn Mitchell added nine.
Duncanville, which won the 6A Division I state title last season and ranks sixth in the state, will play Klein Oak in the regional semifinals next week.
Little Elm 66, Jesuit 42: The state’s third-ranked 6A team scored 26 points off 21 Jesuit turnovers in a 6A Division II Region I area round clash at Flower Mound High School. Kensington Candler scored a game-high 23 points, and Josh Weems added 20 in the dominant win.
Little Elm, which improved to 33-2, has won 19 straight games and will play Mansfield in the regional semifinals.
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West Mesquite 70, Belton 68: Down 18 in the third quarter and eight to start the fourth, West Mesquite came back to win its area round matchup and advance to the 5A Division I Region II semifinals.
West Mesquite will play Frisco Reedy.
On Twitter/X: @t_myah
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