A jam-packed Sandra Meadows Arena in Duncanville was the setting Feb. 6 for one of the state¹s most anticipated basketball games, round two of Cedar Hill vs. Duncanville in District 7-5A.
If the Longhorns could have bottled their first-quarter performance, they would have had a sure sweep over Duncanville¹s Panthers.
But Duncanville turned up the defensive heat, especially in the second half, to ring up solid 58-46 victory.
Nerves and tension were in the air, along with a bucketful of Panther fan noise. Both teams had several unforced turnovers in early action that contributed to a low-scoring 13-8 Longhorn lead after one period.
Even with the Longhorns taking that lead, though, there were signs that this might be ³one of those nights.²
Shawn Glover appeared to have the first points of the night on an alley-oop dunk, but he couldn¹t cleanly finish the slam. The ball eventually fell, but only with Glover still hanging on the rim; it was waved off with a basket interference call.
About halfway through the quarter, Glover got a chance to dunk a fast break, even without a totally clean angle to the rim. But, he couldn¹t get that to go down, either.
It was worse yet for Duncanville, though. Its outside-oriented offense hoisted three air balls in the first quarter.
Duncanville outscored Cedar Hill 18-10 in the second, keyed by a 10-0 run in the middle of the quarter that forced ¹Horns Coach David Milson to break down and call a timeout. Jourdan Isom hit a three to knot the game back up, but Roger Franklin hit a three at the buzzer for a 26-23 Panther halftime lead.
The ¹Horns came out of the locker room strong to start the second half, taking a 31-30 lead at the five-minute mark on a Tanner Milson three-pointer.
But, that would be the last time the Longhorns saw the top side of the scoreboard.
A block and an alley oop keyed a Panther 6-0 run. The Longhorns got a basket, but the Panthers then had another 6-0 run, which also saw Longhorn post player Thomas Gipson pick up his third foul.
The two runs moved the score to 42-33 Duncanville; the quarter ended at 44-34.
In the fourth, te Longhorns forced a couple of turnovers and twice pulled to within four, at 48-44 and 50-46.
But that would be it. The ¹Horns missed two three-pointers, then had an unforced turnover. Duncanville hit late free throws and wrapped the game.
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