Harvey helps lift LBJ to share of 25-5A title
LBJ senior point guard Shasirae Harvey had more than the basketball in his hands in the waning moments of the District 25-5A finale between his Jaguars and Lanier on Tuesday night.
He also had a firm grasp on the Jaguars’ hoops legacy, and he wasn’t about to miss his shot at maintaining that rich tradition.
In the end, Harvey’s fall-away 3-pointer from the baseline with four seconds to go lifted LBJ to a 57-56 victory, which kept intact a remarkable string of success for the program. With the triumph, the Jaguars (22-7, 10-2) tied Lanier (22-8, 10-2) for the 25-5A championship and extended their streak of winning at least a share of a district title to 21 years.
“We can’t be the team that loses district; we just can’t be,” said Harvey, a four-year starter. “And I had to win district all four years.”
Despite their loss, the Vikings still became the first Lanier team since 1989 to win at least a share of a district title. As a result of a tiebreaker, Lanier also will be the No. 1 postseason seed out of 25-5A when the UIL playoffs tip off next week.
As for Harvey and his teammates, they entered their regular-season finale fully aware of LBJ’s championship streak. A series of banners in their home gym offers reminders daily, as do the former players who regularly attend LBJ games.
“They know about it; we talk about it,” said Freddie Roland, who has been LBJ’s coach during the 21-year run of district titles. “And for the kids to come out and play hard and just believe . ... They never stopped believing.”
LBJ kept its poise even after Lanier’s do-everything guard, Davion Buster, hit a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws with less than a minute to play, giving the Vikings a 56-53 lead. With 10 seconds to go, LBJ sophomore Jasean Sibley drew a foul and sank his first free-throw attempt. He missed his second, but Harvey kept the ball alive, and the officials ruled a Lanier player had tipped it out of bounds.
On the inbounds play, Harvey slipped into the corner before catching the ball and unleashing his linedrive shot that hit nothing but the bottom of the net.
“He was a little off tonight, but then he goes and hits the biggest shot of the game,” Roland said.
Harvey finished with 14 points on 6-of-19 shooting, and Brian Batts added 11 points.
Buster, a 5-foot-11 guard who has signed with Lamar University, led all players with 35 points.
They are teammates and best friends. They don’t consider themselves sibling rivals. Their coach says they have more similarities than differences.
“A lot of times, sisters of their age tend to butt heads and hate each,” first-year Warriors coach Lanea Meyer said Wednesday. “These two are inseparable.”
That became apparent when Haley, a senior, signed a letter of intent last week to play at Boston University next year. Alyssa, a junior, will join her in college a year later.
“I kept telling her, ‘Come to Boston with me,’” Haley said.
Haley said she adapted to pitching because she likes to put the game in her hands.
“I like to pitch because I get to control everything,” she said. “If you do well, the team does well. I don’t mind the pressure.”
The sisters called Belton home until they moved to Austin with their mother, Jennifer Smith, five years ago. Smith was a stickler for good grades and both girls are A-B students at Westwood.
“They are close and very good friends,” she said. “They have a lot of the same interests, but they were never forced to be together or do the same things. They have always made their own choices.”
Last year Haley attended a softball camp at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H. Smith encouraged her daughter to attend a second camp, and she made the 126-mile drive to Boston. She was attracted to the historical culture of the city and by Boston University’s academics. She is considering studying pre-med.
Smith is proud of her daughter’s decision to continue her education in Boston but is uneasy about seeing Haley leave home. “I’m already saving money to buy airline tickets” to see her play, she said.
Smith endured a similar situation last year. After Alyssa earned District 13-6A newcomer of the year honors as a Westwood freshman, she decided to move back to Belton the next school year to live with her dad, Drew Popelka. After playing in Belton one year, she returned to Westwood.
“I hated that to happen, but I had to let her do it,” Smith recalled. “It was hard to see the girls split up and not playing with each other.”
Alyssa said leaving Austin was a mistake.
“I missed my mom and everything here,” the junior shortstop said. “I’ll never let it happen again.”
Perhaps no one is happier about Alyssa’s return than Meyer, who coached two years at Converse Judson and one year at Veterans Memorial High in San Antonio before taking the Westwood position this season. She welcomes a player who batted .545 with 28 stolen bases for a 6A playoff qualifier in 2016.
Meyer, who takes over for longtime Warriors coach Tiffany Gates, jokes with the sisters about their decision to remain together after high school.
“Haley definitely takes care of Alyssa,” she said. “I probably ask Alyssa once a week, ‘Hey, what are you going to do next year without Haley?’ It’s no wonder that Alyssa made the commitment to follow Haley to Boston University.”
Teammates, yes, but sisters forever.