Stout defense propels Round Rock into playoffs

Dragons hold Cedar Ridge to just 35 points

ROUND ROCK — Round Rock had no intention of missing the playoffs this year.

Faced with a crucial game Friday that could have dashed their postseason chances, the Dragons used a dominant defensive showing to throttle Cedar Ridge 56-35 at Round Rock High School and clinch a spot in the postseason from District 25-6A.

Mason Cochran finished with 10 points and was the only Round Rock player in double figures as 12 Dragons scored.

Round Rock needs to beat Vista Ridge on Tuesday, the final day of the regular season, to avoid being the district’s fourth seed and having to face Lake Travis in the first round of the playoffs.

The game showed what Round Rock can be when it’s at its best defensively, and why no team will want to play it in the postseason.

The Dragons held the Raiders to two points in the first quarter and 13 in the first half thanks to an in-your-face effort with a man-to-man defense that would have made former Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson proud in the mid-1990s.

“We knew we were going to come into this game hungry, and we came out with an intensity and wanted it more,” said guard Andre Griffin, who finished with eight points. “Everybody was out there hustling, and we’re just really good on defense.”

Leonard Moore, a defensive back in football who recently signed with Notre Dame, might be the best straightup defender in the Austin area and gives Round Rock coach Travis Levie the luxury of being able to assign him to shadow the opposition’s best guard or wing.

It’s also quite possible that the Dragons get better defensively when they go to their bench.

Few teams can bring players such as Xavier Drumgoole (the reigning Class 6A state triple jump champion, who just signed with Stanford in that sport), Sol Barnett, Justin Lee (a defensive end in football who has an offer from North Texas) and the 6-foot-5 Rowan Mandler in to give the starters a breather.

“I told the guys in the locker room that if we play like that, we’re going to give ourselves a chance to win any game,” Levie said. “We got a couple of guys that are stoppers.”

Round Rock (19-11, 8-5) suffered three straight close losses that put its season in peril entering this week.

The Dragons edged McNeil 50-46 Tuesday.

PHOTOS BY HENRY HUEY/SPECIAL TO AMERICAN-STATESMAN ABOVE: Andre Griffin puts up a shot for Round Rock, which beat Cedar Ridge 56-35 Friday to secure a postseason berth. BELOW: Jonathan Wenthe and Mason Cochran of Round Rock and Sam Fielding of Cedar Ridge battle for a loose ball.