Manvel, Fort Bend Marshall advance to face off in final

Manvel regrouped three times this season.

They bounced back from a 2-5 stretch while Jason Scott was injured, readjusted to the additions of six players from football midseason, then weathered a late five-game slide without Jalen Preston.

But coach Chris Wilson told them at their lowest point — after a loss to Galveston Ball — they were going to the regional tournament.

He was right — and now his players are taking it a step further.

Preston hit two clutch shots in the final 1:09 and scored 19 points, and the fourth-seeded Mavericks beat Bryan Rudder 54-48 in the Region III-5A semifinals Friday at Delmar Fieldhouse.

“We started off good but the second round of district was pretty rough,” Preston said. “But coach Wilson told us, it might look like we’re down right now, but we’re going to make it to the regional tournament. And we made it here. Every game’s been tough. We had to come out to play every game.”

The road isn’t getting any easier.

The Mavericks reunite with District 23-5A foe Fort Bend Marshall in the regional final after the Buffalos ran 5A No. 1 Waco University off the court in the second semi, rolling to a 102-84 victory.

“We weren’t worried about rankings because at one point we were No. 1 and somebody knocked us off,” said Jabari Rice, who poured in 23 points with four 3-pointers for 10thranked Marshall.

“We just wanted to come in and play our game.”

The Region III-5A championship game is at 1 p.m. Saturday at Delmar.

The Mavericks moved to 23-13 by sticking together through a tough season, and playing for each other in the playoffs.

They ousted Elkins, which won 23-5A and swept their series, in the third round.

“It was tough, but I knew we were going to get here,” said Scott, who had 10 of his 15 points in the first half.

“All we had to do was keep our heads up, listen to our coach and follow the gameplan.”

They had to change the plan after the first half.

The bigger Mavs led 27-22 at halftime, but Rudder (279) out-rebounded them 2617 in the first two quarters.

“We had to change the pace of the game, so we went to the 1-3-1,” Wilson said. “That changed the game .” The adjustment helped them on the boards — they outrebounded Rudder 1211 in the second half — and sparked their offense.

The Mavericks shot 55 percent from the field (11-of20) in the second half.

The Buffalos could only celebrate after scoring at least 100 points for the third time in the last five games.

John Walker led the charge with 30 points.

“We play fast, (and) we all play together,” Rice said

“When we share the ball, run up and down, and don’t worry about missed shots, the ball starts falling through the net.”