February 21, 2007
By Kevin Hageland, Staff Writer / Plano Star

DALLAS - In Wednesday night’s Bi-District playoff game between Plano East and North Garland, neither team led by more than five points at any time in the game.

So, it comes as no surprise that the contest would not be decided until the final possession of the game. With the Panthers leading, 49-47, North Garland inbounded the ball from half court with six seconds left.

The Red Raiders drove to the basket and got off a shot, but it was partially rejected by East junior John West to secure the first round playoff victory, 49-47.

“Playoff basketball is always more defensive,” said Doug Bleadorn, East head coach. “And we were able to come up with a big defensive stop when we needed it the most.”

And although the game came down to the final seconds, it was back-and-forth the entire evening.

North Garland got off to a quick start, scoring four unanswered points in the first 35 seconds to grab the lead. East would score the next five points to jump ahead, 5-4. The Panthers grabbed their first advantage of the game when West sunk a three with 6:26 to go in the first.

That would be the last basket East scored for the next 3:40 as the Panthers went cold. East junior Quincy Diggs got the Panthers back on the scoreboard when he made a three-pointer to pull the team within one point, 9-8.

Not to be outdone, North Garland’s Hubert Anyiam hit a three on the next possession, which was a replay of what he had done only moments earlier. That gave the Red Raiders a 12-8 lead, but the Panthers would score the final five points of the quarter, capped off by a buzzer-beating bank shot by junior Kevin Smith, to take a 13-12 lead.

East remained ahead, 19-16, before North Garland went on a 7-0 run to regain control of the game. The run was finished off by Anyiam, who buried yet another three to give the Red Raiders a 23-19 advantage. They would maintain a 25-22 lead heading into the locker room.

“Hubert had 13 points in the first half,” Bleadorn said. “I told our team we couldn’t let him get another 13, or else we were going home.”

The Panthers would be more successful at containing Anyiam in the second half, as he scored only seven points, but still had a game-high 20 on the night.

After trading baskets early in the second half, the Panthers regained the lead, 29-28, when senior Brody Welch made a steal and dished it off to junior Anthony Hill for an easy lay-in with 5:51 remaining in the third quarter.

However, a three-pointer by North Garland’s D’ Quarlin Clark would cap off 7-2 run for the Red Raiders, giving the team a 35-31 advantage. Smith got another late shot off, this time with two seconds to go, to pull the Panthers to within 35-33 as the third came to a close.

After the two teams battled to a 39-39 tie halfway through the fourth quarter, Hill, who had seven points, hit a deep three to put East up, 42-39. Hill made a steal on the very next possession and was fouled going to the basket.

After yet another Anyiam three, Smith, who had seven points and eight rebounds, grabbed the momentum right back for East with a rim-rattling jam. The dunk put the Panthers ahead, 46-42, with 3:34 left in the game.

After each team was unable to score the next time down the court, Tramond Haley, who had nine points on the evening, nailed a three-pointer with 2:43 to go. That shot made the score 46-45. Both team’s offenses would stall after that, with East only able to get a free throw and North Garland unable to score any points.

Ahead by two, West scored two of his seven points by sinking a pair of free throws to give the Panthers a 49-45 lead with 16 seconds to go. West also had six rebounds in the contest.

North Garland would then score a quick basket before Hill missed the front end of a one-and-one to give the Red Raiders their final shot with six seconds to go. The ensuing miss ensured the victory for East and a second round playoff matchup Saturday against the winner of tonight’s Skyline/Mesquite Horn game.

“We were able to get the ball inside a lot more in the second half and I think that is what made the difference,” Bleadorn said. “We did enough to get the win tonight, and that’s all that really matters.”

The Panthers did not have any players in double-figures, but did have six players score at least seven points. In addition to Hill, Smith and West; senior Charlie Howard had eight points, while Welch and Diggs each chipped in with seven.

“That has been our team all season; we are not just one guy, we have a number of players that can hurt you,” Bleadorn said. “We went through a tough district, so a lot of our guys were already battle-tested, but I think we did a lot of growing up tonight.”