Undefeated Glen Rose goes down to Wylie

[eagles_victory]

58-54 Wylie wins.

[injuredinmelee]

Bulldogs move into regional title game
By Troy Shockley / shockleyt@reporternews.com
March 4, 2006








LUBBOCK - The curse of United Spirit Arena has lifted.

After falling in the first game of the Region I-3A tournament in each of the last two seasons, the Wylie High School boys basketball team scored a 58-54 come-from-behind win over previously undefeated and second-ranked Glen Rose on Friday. The win moves the Bulldogs into today's regional championship, where they will meet Ranchview, which beat Borger 57-55 with a shot at the buzzer in Friday's late game.

''We've had good teams, but we always seem to lose in the first round,'' Wylie's Gary Edwards said. ''Not this time.''

Much of that is thanks to the efforts of Edwards, who finished with a game-high 20 points. Adam Sisneros added 14 points for the fourth-ranked Bulldogs - eight of those coming at the free throw line, where as a team Wylie shot an impressive 15-of-16.

Also impressive was the Bulldogs' bench, which helped pick up the offensive slack when starters like Case Keenum - who'd been in bed with the flu since Wednesday - struggled.

''That's been our key all year long,'' Wylie coach Russell Perkins said. ''Our depth wears people down and our depth gets people in trouble. You look at what guys like Matt Smith and Cody English were able to do (off the bench) tonight ... not many teams have that.''

One of - if not the biggest play of the game, in fact - came from English.

With less than 30 seconds to play and Wylie clinging to a 54-53 lead, Glen Rose was able to move the ball past midcourt and call a timeout with 20 seconds remaining. But the 5-foot-7 English - the smallest player on the floor - sealed the win when, after getting called for a backcourt violation on an inbounds steal, he snagged another steal on Glen Rose's next attempt to put the ball in play.

His layup with 11 seconds on the clock gave Wylie a three-point edge, and when the Tigers' Tristan Daffan missed the second of two free throws, Sisneros came down with the rebound, was fouled and made both shots to clinch the win.

''There was a lot going through my mind right there,'' a still-grinning English said 20 minutes later. ''I was just hoping somebody could get it, and I did.

''We didn't plan on losing. We just stuck together and played hard. And it worked.''

Wylie trailed by as many as seven in the fourth quarter, but after Daffan threw up an air ball for Glen Rose, Wylie was able to tie it at 50 with a pair of Smith free throws. Once again a trey - this one an NBA-distance bucket by Clay Roberts - gave Glen Rose back the lead, but two Sisneros free throws cut the advantage once again to a single point, and a Tiger turnover with 85 seconds to play gave Wylie a chance.

Sisneros was called for a charge while driving the baseline to give the ball back to the Tigers, and Keenum intentionally sent Roberts to the line with 57 seconds left. He missed the front end of a 1-and-1 and the Bulldogs came down with the rebound, only to turn it over under their basket. Roberts was whistled for a charge when he came out with the ball and tried to push it down the floor, though, and Wylie got another shot - it made good on that opportunity when Roberts fouled out with a hold on Keenum and he hit both with 31 seconds to play, putting the Bulldogs up 54-53 and setting the stage for English's game-clinching steal.

Both offenses struggled to get in sync at the game's start, and neither team was able to get on the board until Glen Rose's Clay Roberts knocked down a 3-pointer three minutes in. Edwards responded with a long two, and what then followed was essentially a first-quarter shootout between the two guards.

As a sophomore at last year's regional tournament, Edwards scored eight points in a loss to Graham. On Friday he had 12 in the first quarter. Roberts was nearly as good for the Tigers, hitting a pair of 3-pointers on the way to an eight-point quarter.

The two played evenly through most of the second quarter as well, until Glen Rose managed to pull ahead with a late push - a surge capped with a Josh May tip-in with less than a second remaining - to grab hold of the six-point halftime lead.

The Bulldogs are now hoping for a win that's a little less down-to-the wire in tonight's championship, but English said there's no chance of a big-game letdown with this group.

''We're ready,'' he said. ''We don't plan on being down now.''


GLEN ROSE (54) x96 Nick Lounsberry 0 1-2 1, Tristan Daffan 2 1-2 6, Dustin Schurr 1 0-0 2, Clay Roberts 6 1-5 16, Spencer Busch 2 0-0 4, Josh May 4 0-0 10, Jed Phillips 4 0-0 8, Harley Sinclair 3 0-1 7. Totals 22 3-10 54.

WYLIE (58) x96 Jeff Wilkerson 1 0-0 2, Cody English 2 0-0 4, Gary Edwards 8 0-0 20, Michael Strong 1 0-0 3, Adam Sisneros 3 8-8 14, Case Keenum 1 5-6 7, Matt Smith 3 2-2 8. Totals 19 15-16 58.

Glen Rose 12 18 15 9 x96 54

Wylie 14 10 17 17 x96 58

3-point goals x96 Glen Rose 7 (Roberts 3, May 2, Daffan 1, Sinclair 1), Wylie 5 (Edwards 4, Strong 1). Total fouls x96 Glen Rose 20, Wylie 13. Fouled out x96 Busch. Technicals x96 None.

Records x96 Wylie 29-2, Glen Rose 32-1