Wolves turn the tables on Buffs in second half
SAN ANTONIO — With his team trailing at halftime, Mansfield Timberview basketball coach Duane Gregory simply told his players to do what they are supposed to do and what they’ve done for 40 games.
“Then I said, ‘And all the reporters are going to talk about the fantastic comeback,’ ” Gregory said. He was right. Down after shooting a paltry 23 percent in the first quarter and not much better in the second, Timberview rallied to beat Fort Bend Marshall 74-66 in the Class 5A state championship game Saturday at the Alamodome.
The title is Timberview’s first after the Wolves lost in the 2009 semifinals.
The Wolves used a 19-2 run in the third quarter to swing the game and seize the momentum. Marshall got within four points in the final minute, but Chris Mullins, who was named the game’s Most Valuable Player, sealed the win from the foul line.
“We thought we were going to come out and hopefully make a run,” said Marshall coach Gary Nichols, who led Wil- lowridge to a title in 1994. “They got a run, and we never got another one.”
Before that point, Marshall (32-8) was in control, dictating a fast, up-anddown tempo and controlling the interior on both ends. Timberview matched the up and down, but it couldn’t match the offense.
Missing jump shots and uncontested layups alike, the Wolves made just two baskets and one free throw in the final 5:30 of the first quarter. They needed an additional 90 seconds into the second quarter before scoring again.
Marshall led 37-27 at the half. Timberview missed 12 layups while the Buffalos had three second-chance conversions under the basket.
“You do the math, (and) that’s 24 points on layups and six points on putbacks,” Gregory said. “That’s 30 points.”
It wasn’t just making layups that did it for the Wolves (32-7), who didn’t make a 3-pointer and attempted only two in the second half. They attacked the basket but also attacked Marshall on the other end of the floor. The Buffs turned it over five times in the final 4:22 of the quarter.
The Buffs didn’t score until nearly two minutes had rolled off the clock. It took them another four minutes to score again.
By the time Daquazemarr Wyche converted a four-point play for Marshall, Timberview’s 10-point deficit had become a 46-39 lead. The Wolves outscored the Buffs 28-5 in the opening 10 minutes of the second half.
“I said, ‘The tables are going to turn, and they’re going to turn fast,’ ” Gregory said. “They’re going to be on their heels and not know what hit them.”
Mullins scored a gamehigh 36 points — 24 in the second half. Tim Jackson added 15 points while Isaac Likekele had nine points and 12 rebounds.
Jabari Rice and Tajzmel Sherman led Marshall with 20 and 17 points, respectively.
“We couldn’t come out with the win, but just to even be here is a blessing in itself,” Sherman said. “We got the farthest in Marshall history.
“We wanted to really make history by winning, but we just came up short.”