Plano East sophomore Alexander Brewington (3) and the Panthers will look to snap a two-game losing streak Tuesday night against Princeton. Photo by Andy Redmond / C&S Media
By Art Stricklin
A bad first quarter led to a worse game for Plano East as the Panthers fell to Allen 61-48 in a District 6-6A showdown Friday night at Archie McAfee Gymnasium.
The Panthers, who came into the game ranked slightly ahead of Allen in the boys district standings, started slow and trailed 20-5 at the end of the first quarter. It was a hole they were never able to recover from, as the Eagles never trailed at any point. Nine points was the closest the Panthers were able to get in the second half, making for a drama-free game before a packed gym on a chilly first weekend of the year.
Plano East, which entered the game ranked 18th in the state, fell to 4-2 in District 6-6A play and 18-6 overall. Allen, ranked 22nd statewide, improved to 5-1 in district play and 13-4 overall. The combination of hot shooting from leading scorer Nehemiah Lawrence and tighter defense was too much for Plano East to overcome.
“We don’t usually score a lot of points, but we play pretty good defense,” Panthers head coach Matt Wester said. “We got into a hole tonight, and that first quarter really hurt us. We didn’t come out ready to execute the game plan we had. That won’t happen again.
“If you look at it, we outscored them in the second, third and fourth quarters, but the first was just too much.”
In the second quarter, Plano East scored 20 points but still trailed by 12, 37-25, at halftime. The Panthers scored the first four points of the third quarter and trailed 39-30 with 6:48 left but could get no closer. It was 52-43 Allen with 5:38 remaining, but Plano East could not build momentum and ultimately lost by 13.
“To be honest, the last three quarters were about what I was expecting, so I can’t be too unhappy with that, but the first one was a killer,” Wester said. “With our defense, we can usually hold teams in the 40s, but for them to score in the 60s is trouble for us.”
Center Moustafa Abualneel led all Plano East scorers with 20 points. Jayden Parker was the only other Panther in double figures with 10 points.