Seguin rallies to claim regional final berth, 70-59

By Keven Costlow
Published: Sat, 03/02/2013

From wire reports

GARLAND – The West Mesquite Wranglers unwittingly handed the Seguin Cougars a wake-up call Friday night.

After the Wranglers, a team Seguin had beaten twice this season, battled to a 28-25 halftime lead, the Cougars got the message and raced away from West Mesquite, 70-59, in a 4A Region II semifinal at the Culwell Center.

The Cougars (33-4) advanced to Saturday’s regional final against Dallas Kimball (21-9), a 56-49 winner over McKinney North in the other semifinal. Seguin defeated the Knights, 72-63, in a December contest at Grand Prairie's Turner Gym.

West Mesquite finished its season at 26-10.

After taking a 14-10 lead at the end of the initial period, West Mesquite stepped up its game and outscored the Cougars, 18-11, in the second period for the three-point halftime lead.

With the message understood and the challenge accepted, the Cougars roared back in the third quarter, taking a 45-41 lead and securing the momentum. Although the Wranglers stayed close, Seguin pulled away in the final stanza to take the 11-point win.

Brandon Parrish led five Seguin players in double figures with 21 points. He was followed by Marcus Frazier with 16, Kimani Jackson with 12, Chris Boleware with 11 and Greg Wesley with 10.

Jordon Johnson led West Mesquite with 19.

South Grand Prairie 56, Martin 28
FORT WORTH – The Martin Warriors had faced almost every kind of defense there is in basketball this season. But nothing had prepared them for what they saw from South Grand Prairie.

Martin, which had no trouble at all scoring this season, did not manage to score in double figures in any of the four quarters against South Grand Prairie’s suffocating defense and lost a 56-28 decision in the Class 5A Region I semifinal Friday night at the Wilkerson-Greines Activity Center.

Martin ended its campaign at 29-7, while South Grand Prairie (36-3) advanced to the regional final on Saturday against Hebron, a 55-37 winner over North Crowley in the other semifinal.

The first sign something was wrong was when South Grand Prairie bolted to a 16-7 lead after one quarter. Late in the second quarter, SGP's Mark Howell came up with a steal in midcourt and drove in for an uncontested dunk to put his team up, 21-11. The Martin Five shook that off and managed to stay within range at 24-15 at the half.

South Grand Prairie then pulled away in the second half, extending its lead in both the third and fourth quarters. Kordell Eilts led Martin with eight points, while Virginia Tech-bound Ben Emelogu paced South Grand Prairie with 14 points.