(San Antonio, Texas)-What a come back! The Lipan HS Indians watched its perfect 39-0 record fall to the defending champions, Clarendon HS Broncos 65-51 as they repeated as the University Interscholastic League 2A State Champions on Saturday at the Alamodome-San Antonio, Texas.
Led by Clarendon’s LaMarcus Penigar’s 41-points, including six 3-pointers, then the crowd watched a slam dunk by Broncos JaMaury Davis, followed by a three-pointer to build a 58-43 with 1:50 left to play. “It felt good. The crowd felt it,” said Davis.
The Indians coached by Brent Gaylor, have made 13 tournament appearances (1953, 59, 94, 98, 2003, 04, 05, 06, 09, 17, 18, 21, 22) and previously lost to Clarendon last season in the semifinals.
At the half, the Indians led 24-16 by taking advantage of missed shots by the Broncos, and watched the Broncos break loose by outscoring the Indians 49-27 in the second half. The maroon and white, having made six tournament appearances (1969, 70, 2011, 17, 21, 22), started the second half with eight of nine three-pointers to ignite the Indians 39-32 with 1:47 left in the third period.
After a timeout by Lipan, a beautiful inbounds pass to Clarendon’s JaMaury Davis, scoring to make it 41-32. The Broncos biggest lead of the day. A drive by Cayden D’Costa made it 43-32 with :20 left in the third period. Broncos guard LeMarcus Penigar drove the basket to end the period ahead 45-33. D’Costa led his Broncos (31-2) team with 16 rebounds for day.
In the final period, the defending champions, Clarendon HS Broncos just kept scoring, building its lead to 51-43 over Lipan. Penigar was named the Most Valuable Player in Class 2A from Clarendon HS. Lipan’s Tate Brandon led the team with 18-points. From the 3-point line, the Indians went 1-of-13. (HSSMImages/Ruiz)
