03/04/2006
By BRIAN PORTER, Staff writer

ABILENE - Joseph Fulce will be taking a detour to Texas A&M via Austin.

The senior, with a heritage which reads like a Who's Who of Basketball in Plano, scored 23 points and pulled down eight rebounds in the second half alone Saturday to lead Plano past El Paso Montwood, 60-45, in the Region I-Class 5A boys basketball championship game.

Plano (27-8) earned a berth into the state's final four by downing a previously unbeaten team. Montwood (30-1) won its first 30 games of the season. The Class 5A tournament, which opens with semifinal play Friday, has not announced pairings. Richardson Berkner has also qualified into the field.

" 'We did it. We're going to state,' " said Fulce, in a cellular phone call to his sister, Jessica, who helped the Plano girls to a state championship appearance in 2000. "The first person I called was Jessica. She said now I can put this up there with her medals at home. That was always the big thing growing up. I kept asking God to bless me, to bless this team. I asked for state and got it."

Plano trailed 19-6 with 7:34 remaining in the first half. Fulce scored the first Plano points of the second period from the free throw line. Eric Zastoupil and Landon Skinner each had a pair of baskets and Plano trailed by just four points with 3:25 left in the first half. Fulce trimmed the margin to two points and Lawrence Mann gave the team its first lead before settling for a halftime tie.

Fulce, the cousin of 1991 Mr. Basketball in Texas, Jimmy King, was a giant in the second half. It was a performance which drew comparisons by many to Earl Campbell's complete and total football domination in Tyler so many years ago. It even overshadowed outings by Michael Milton, the person Fulce replaced and took his uniform number, who holds the most offensive records at Plano.

"Definitely," John Roberson said. "Earl Campbell, whoever you got. That's the best I've seen him play...ever."

Fulce lifted the Wildcats into their first state tournament appearance since 1980.

"Joe is playing like the end is coming," Plano coach Tom Inman said. "His bloodline for basketball is so rich. It means a lot to Joe."

King is the only Plano ISD player to ever win the annual Mr. Basketball award and was a member of Michigan's Fab 5. Jessica went to the state tournament. Joe now has a chance to do something neither of his predecessors accomplished - win a championship.

"Everyone said we couldn't come this far, that there was no way," Fulce said. "We're just a little team from a Dallas suburb."

Something triggered the forward after halftime.

"I just looked up and wiped my shoes," Fulce said. "This was what I had always asked for. It was time. It was time to go and take it.

"It's all unexplainable. It's just unexplainable what this means to us."

Fulce had 15 of Plano's 17 points in the third period and then eight in the fourth period as Plano had to live without Zastoupil, who was in foul trouble.

The senior forward pulled down boards, he made assists and was lethal from the floor. He was regularly calling for the ball and Roberson didn't mind delivering.

"You can't tell there's pressure on Joe at all," Roberson said.

Roberson, a Florida transfer, took a risk in coming to Plano. His former high school advanced to the Florida Final Four last season.

"I couldn't have landed in a better situation. I love these guys and I'm glad I'm at Plano," Roberson said. "It's going to be an honor to go and represent Plano."

It didn't take Montwood long to build an insurmountable lead and it didn't take it long to dissipate. Montwood hit 5-of-6 shots to open the game and took a 13-2 advantage. It grew to a 19-6 advantage with 26 seconds elapsed in the second period.

Plano compiled a 15-0 run, including key steals by Landon Skinner and Rex Burkhead, before Montwood used a 2-for-5 performance from the free-throw line to close the first half in a tie with Plano.

Fulce scored eight points along an early 10-3 run in the third period. Plano compiled a 27-5 run to answer the 19-6 deficit.

Fulce, Mann and Roberson scored early in the fourth period to give Plano a 46-35 advantage. Fulce later pushed the lead to 14 points and Roberson to 16 points. Montwood was done.

"I told the guys early if they (Montwood) were going to shoot that well, we were going home," Inman said. "We went man-to-man. Let's challenge their conditioning."

A fierce half-court trap led to turnovers and transition opportunities. It ultimately led to a berth into the state tournament.