[email\u00a0protected]<\/a><\/p>\nThe Plano East boys basketball team took a 13-game winning streak and, more importantly, sole possession of first place in District 6-6A into the Christmas break.<\/p>\n
Paced by a game-high 22 points from senior forward Moustafa Abualneel and an extended 24-2 scoring run that bridged the second and third quarters, the Panthers cruised to a 65-49 victory over crosstown rival Plano on Tuesday, Dec. 23.<\/p>\n
Throughout Plano East\u2019s winning streak, the Panthers (15-3 overall, 4-0 District 6-6A) have used a balanced scoring attack to will their way to victory. In Plano East\u2019s most recent game against Prosper Rock Hill, 13 Panthers found their way into the scorebook in a dominant 71-35 victory over the Blue Hawks.<\/p>\n
It was more of the same in last week\u2019s victory over Plano, as nine different Panthers scored, but Plano East head coach Matt Wester said any player is capable of shouldering the scoring load.<\/p>\n
In the first half against Plano, ranked No. 19 in last week\u2019s Texas Association of Basketball Coaches Class 6A state poll, Abualneel carried Plano East\u2019s offense.<\/p>\n
Whether it was a drive to the basket or a perimeter shot, he used his athleticism and shot-making skills to score 18 points by halftime and 22 overall. Two of those 3-pointers came with Abualneel falling to the court, with his first triple giving Plano East a 7-2 lead with 4:33 left in the first quarter.<\/p>\n
At one point, Abualneel accounted for 13 of Plano East\u2019s first 15 points.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe stepped up in the first half, and Jayden (Parker) stepped up in the second half,\u201d Wester said. \u201cI think that Moustafa can be a Division I basketball player. We just have to have that first half for every half from him in every game.\u201d<\/p>\n
The biggest turning point in the game occurred when Plano East placed the responsibility of defending Plano star freshman guard TJ Johnson on Parker.<\/p>\n
Parker used his quickness to frustrate Johnson when he had the ball in his hands, forcing at least three steals in the first half.<\/p>\n
Parker\u2019s lockdown defense fueled a 24-2 Plano East run.<\/p>\n
After a putback by Plano senior forward Akanna Ngene tied the score at 15-15, the remainder of the first half and the first two minutes of the third quarter belonged to Plano East, ranked No. 18 in Class 6A. The Panthers converted several Wildcat turnovers into points and boxed out well to force Plano into one-and-done possessions on offense.<\/p>\n
Although Johnson finished with 20 points for Plano, much of that damage came in the fourth quarter when Plano East was firmly in control.<\/p>\n
\u201cJayden did a great job of taking him out of his rhythm, and it really helped us on defense,\u201d Wester said. \u201cThere were a lot of turnovers that came about because of their interior passing.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to his defensive effort, Parker chipped in 15 points, including several key plays early in the third quarter to help put the game out of reach. Parker was credited with an assist on each of Plano East\u2019s first two baskets and then made a 3-pointer from the left wing for a 39-17 lead on a great find by senior Keagan Ho.<\/p>\n
Senior Collin O\u2019Boyle added eight points, followed by six from senior Luke Wasemiller.<\/p>\n
Throughout Plano East\u2019s 13-game winning streak, Wester has seen many resemblances to the team two seasons ago that finished 40-0 and won the Class 6A state championship, and he is hopeful to see more selfless play during the remainder of district play.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis team has improved more since the first game of the season than any team that I\u2019ve ever coached,\u201d he said. \u201cThere is so much of the state champs that I see in these guys. I had the guys over for dinner last Sunday. There are no cliques. They all sat together at the same table the whole time. It really reminded me of the camaraderie of that team as well.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Plano East senior forward Moustafa Abualneel (13) drives to the basket to score two of his game-high 22…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":99456,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[160,162,161],"class_list":{"0":"post-99455","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-plano","8":"tag-plano","9":"tag-plano-headlines","10":"tag-plano-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99455","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=99455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99455\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}