Cy Falls tops Skyline in three overtimes, advances to Class 6A title game; Brazosport makes 4A final.
SAN ANTONIO — The biggest moment from Friday’s Class 6A state semifinal between Cypress Falls and Dallas Skyline will likely end up being Marcus Garrett’s final trip to the foul line.
Skyline trailed by two in triple overtime, and Garrett, a 6-7 Kansas signee and a McDonald’s AllAmerican, had a chance to tie. He missed both free throws and the ensuing putback after he grabbed his own rebound.
Cy Falls sealed the 46-43 victory with a free throw on the other end, beating the Raiders at the Alamodome and advancing to the state championship for the first time. Before this season, the Golden Eagles never advanced past the regional quarterfinals.
Cy Falls (34-3) will meet San Antonio Wagner (36-2) in the championship game at 8:30 p.m. Saturday.
“I had a chance to make a play and I didn’t make it,” said Garrett, who also missed a potential game winner at the end of the second overtime.
Garrett’s misses, however, only put the finishing touches on a theme that doomed Skyline all night.
“We couldn’t make shots,” Skyline coach Paul Graham said.
Skyline (34-2) shot 29.1 percent from the floor and 46.7 percent from the foul line.
Garrett finished 6-of-14 from the floor and missed five of eight free throws. Sammy Brooks went 3-of14. Treyvon Watts-Hale missed all four shots he took.
Jase Townsend, who came in averaging a teambest 17 points per game, finished with three points on 1-of-14 shooting. His only make came a minute into the second overtime.
“JT (Townsend) can shoot, Sammy can shoot and Trey can make open shots,” Graham said. “But it just wouldn’t go in. I don’t know if it was the arena or whatever it was. It just wouldn’t go in.”
As bad as they shot, the Raiders were in the game. They just couldn’t stop Cy Falls late.
Trajan Wesley, who led all scorers with 23 points, followed a Garrett layin late in the second overtime with one of his own. That tied it at 41-41.
Nigel Hawkins made two free throws a minute into the final period, giving the Eagles a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. DJ Weaver ended the next two Skyline possessions with much-needed defensive rebounds. Skyline outrebounded Cy Falls, but those two kept the momentum in the Eagles’ favor and denied a second opportunity.
“In the second half, we knew we had to do a better job on being a little bit more deliberate about us blocking out, holding our block out and then just going and getting the ball,” Cy Falls coach Richard Flores said.
Cy Falls had a chance in regulation. Up 36-32 midway through the fourth quarter, the Eagles turned it over three times in four possessions. Skyline tied the game before a Wesley potential game-winner and Garrett’s misfire from three-quarters court sent the game to overtime.
“Defensively, our rotations stayed solid,” Flores said. “I think we frustrated them … and then trusting each other down the stretch.”