{"id":92366,"date":"2025-12-18T03:51:23","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T03:51:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/92366\/"},"modified":"2025-12-18T03:51:23","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T03:51:23","slug":"ethan-taxis-sinks-driving-layup-lifts-plano-over-marengo-in-final-seconds-shaw-local","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/92366\/","title":{"rendered":"Ethan Taxis sinks driving layup, lifts Plano over Marengo in final seconds \u2013 Shaw Local"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ethan Taxis found a small opening and went into attack mode.<\/p>\n

With under 20 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and Plano<\/a> trailing Marengo<\/a> by a point, Taxis drove the ball inside and floated a layup over a pair of defenders. The junior guard watched as the ball swirled around the rim and fell through the net, giving the Reapers a one-point advantage as the home crowd roared with applause.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe play was designed as a back door cut for Cooper [Beaty],\u201d Taxis said. \u201cI came back up, set a screen and I had to make a play. I knew I could go up strong, finish at the rim and get my layups.\u201d<\/p>\n

Behind the game-winning shot from Taxis, who led all players with 20 points while adding six rebounds, Plano held off Marengo 60-59 and remained perfect through three Kishwaukee River Conference games. Taxis made a game-high nine field goals for the Reapers (6-4, 3-0 KRC), who erased a five-point halftime deficit to win.<\/p>\n

\"Marengo's<\/p>\n

Marengo’s Sam Vandello (12) looks to put up a shot over Plano’s Logan Martin (15) during Wednesday’s game in Plano. (Photo provided by Mark D. Parris )<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew we had to box about because they were taller than us,\u201d Taxis said. \u201cWe just had to fight for the ball. It was a conference game and we had to win. We\u2019re 3-0 now and we fight hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite dropping six of its first seven games coming in, Marengo (1-7, 1-2 KRC) came ready to play. The Indians crashed the glass early, outrebounding Plano 19-14 over the first two quarters of play. A corner 3-pointer from sophomore guard Blake Ritter gave the Indians a 14-8 lead and forced the Reapers to burn a timeout.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe played good,\u201d said Marengo guard Caden Bezik, who led the Indians with 12 points, six rebounds and a team-best four assists. \u201cWe just have to get those rebounds and finish layups. We were swinging the ball, making our shots and making the right plays.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marengo held a seven-point lead after a fast-paced first quarter. With the Reapers needing a spark on offense, Taxis began driving to the basket with authority, finishing multiple layups including one that brought Marengo within two and forced an Indians\u2019 timeout.<\/p>\n

\"Plano's<\/p>\n

Plano’s Cooper Beaty (23, left) battles for a rebound with Marengo’s Caden Bezik (3) during Wednesday’s game in Plano. (Photo provided by Mark D. Parris)<\/p>\n

The Reapers couldn\u2019t quite take the lead, however, as Marengo maintained a slim advantage with effective 3-point shooting. The Indians, who had eight players score at least five points, drilled four triples in the first half to enter the locker room ahead 33-28.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just have to execute our plays, know when to foul, when not to foul and play good defense,\u201d Bezik said. \u201cWe have to keep building and the wins will come eventually. We just have to keep building.\u201d<\/p>\n

Junior guard Braylon Schmidt buried a pair of 3-pointers to ignite the Reapers early in the third quarter, where Plano briefly took a three-point lead before a corner 3 from Bezik evened the score at 39-39. Although Bezik took his fourth foul in the third quarter, senior guards like Oliver Nichols and Myles Aukes stepped up. The two combined for three 3-pointers and nine rebounds in the game.<\/p>\n

Trailing 47-44 after three quarters, Plano found a spark with its defense and rebounding. A steal and score by sophomore guard KinVaras Terrell tied the game at 49-49 before another steal soon after led to a Terrell layup that gave Plano a 57-52 lead and forced a Marengo timeout. Cooper Beaty, who totaled 10 points and nine rebounds for Plano, drained a key 3-pointer in the second half.<\/p>\n

\"Plano's<\/p>\n

Plano’s Alan Contreras (1) hangs in the air on a drive to the basket during Wednesday’s game with Marengo in Plano. (Photo provided by Mark D. Parris )<\/p>\n

\u201cWe went into the locker room and our coach said that we were getting outrebounded on the offensive and defensive side,\u201d said Beaty, whose team played without injured senior standout Kevin Martinez. \u201cWe lost Kevin, so we needed to step up and I needed to step up and do my job. We came out slow in the beginning, but after the half, we came out firing and that\u2019s how it should be.\u201d<\/p>\n

An emphatic block from 6-foot-6 junior Parker Weadge, who had seven points and nine rebounds for Marengo, led to a foul on the other end and free throws for Bezik, who canned both to cut the Plano lead to 58-56 with 43.2 seconds left. After a missed shot by the Reapers, Marengo surged ahead on a clutch 3 from Nichols, who cashed in an assist from Bezik to put the Indians up 59-58.<\/p>\n

Schmidt finished with nine points and four rebounds, while Jayden Zepeda added nine points and Terrell had six points to aid Plano.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe work really well together, even though we\u2019re a young team,\u201d Beaty said. \u201cWe move the ball and our guards all like each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nichols recorded eight points and five rebounds for the Indians, who saw forwards Jett Lesiak and Sam Vandello combine for 13 points and eight rebounds in the game. Aukes and Ritter each added five points to pace the Marengo offense in the game.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ethan Taxis found a small opening and went into attack mode. With under 20 seconds remaining in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":92367,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[43377,160,162,161,8438],"class_list":{"0":"post-92366","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-plano","8":"tag-illinois-high-school-wrestling","9":"tag-plano","10":"tag-plano-headlines","11":"tag-plano-news","12":"tag-wrestling"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92366"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92366\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}