Knights get hot in second half,
SAN ANTONIO — Elkins entered the Class 5A tournament as the state’s top-ranked team and the lone survivor of arguably the toughest region in Texas.
Fort Worth Dunbar entered unranked and one of two qualifiers with doubledigit losses.
The underdog Wildcats made things interesting for a half, leading throughout and out-efforting the favorites — Elkins gave up 16 offensive rebounds in the first two quarters.
The second half was a different story.
Shots previously not falling for the Knights started finding the net. Long stretches of sloppy play went away.
Elkins made its move at the outset of the third quarter and never looked back, sailing to a 101-73 victory Thursday night in the state semifinals at the Alamodome.
“Honestly, we just know we have to come out and play defense,” said Elkins senior Ken Busby, who finished with a team-high 21 points. “That’s what’s going to get us to where we want to be.”
The Knights advance to Saturday’s title game to face defending champion Lancaster, which beat Edinburg Vela 79-58.
In its state debut, Elkins will try to become Fort Bend ISD’s fourth state champion since 2000. Willowridge won the second of back-to-back titles that season, followed by Bush (2010) and Travis (2013).
Dunbar, a three-time champion making its first trip to state since 2007, finished the year 23-12.
The rebounding edge finished in Dunbar’s favor (49-34) and could be a factor Saturday. Lancaster’s top player in its win was 6-10 senior Nate Morris, who had 17 points and eight rebounds in the semifinals.
Elkins didn’t play anyone Thursday taller than 6-4. Dunbar’s Quinton Brigham finished with 27 points and 12 rebounds. The Wildcats had 29 offensive rebounds.
“We’re going to have to block out,” Elkins coach Albert Thomas said. “We’re going to have to rebound. Everything is going to revolve around that.”
The Knights didn’t make a 3-pointer until Busby converted with just under three minutes to play in the second quarter. That cut Dunbar’s lead to four points and it shrank to 3634 at the break.
“The key thing we needed to talk about was blocking out and rebounding,” Thomas said. “Because we played a pretty decent half. But we were giving them second-shot opportunities.
“Once we cut that out, that led to us being able to transition and get some layups.”
Elkins scored on its opening five third-quarter possessions, including a Busby 3-pointer. The run quickly turned Dunbar’s two-point lead into a 44-38 deficit.
Dunbar got as close as three points, but the Knights ended the third quarter on an 11-4 run.
It only got worse for Dunbar in the fourth quarter.
By then the Knights were making their shots from behind the arc as well as in the paint.
Elkins scored 42 points in the final period and outscored the Wildcats 67-37 in the second half. The Knights shot 70 percent from the floor over the final two quarters.
Six Knights reached double figures — Busby, Eddie Everline (18 points), Chad Bowie (13), Ansu Sesay (13), Chandler Jacobs (12) and Tyrik Armstrong (11).