Tompkins holds off South Garland in overtime, advances to boys Class 6A state title game.
SAN ANTONIO — The often-humorous Bobby Sanders started Friday’s postgame news conference by revealing the real motivation in Tompkins’ 80-76 overtime win over South Garland in the Class 6A state semifinals.
“We wanted to extend our trip so our guys could get some more meal money,” the Tompkins coach said. “That was the main goal. And they did it. I think that was their motivation.”
Sanders and the Falcons showed little sign of a team that just survived a state-record-tying 46 points from South Garland’s Tyrese Maxey. They have plenty more to smile about now that Katy ISD’s first boys basketball team in a state tournament is one win away from winning it all. Tompkins will face Allen, which defeated Austin Westlake 70-55.
Tompkins held an eight-point lead with 1:56 left before South Garland’s 10-0 run negated everything. The exclamation point on that run was Maxey’s basket and free throw, which gave South Garland a 69-67 lead with 54 seconds left.
But Tompkins star Jamal Bieniemy, who scored 19 of his 25 points in the second half and overtime, answered by sinking a 3-pointer with 22 seconds left for a 70-69 lead.
“I told coach right before that that I was going to knock it down,” Bieniemy said. “Once he said what play we were running, I told him that I was going to make that 3, and I made it.” It still wasn’t enough. Maxey’s two free throws sent the game to overtime tied at 71. The paced slowed and the game was tied at 74 in overtime before C.J. Washington and Bieniemy didn’t flinch when they were sent to the free-throw line. The 78-74 lead with 29 second left held up.
Tompkins starters Eden Holt and Kristian Sjolund fouled out and were unavailable for overtime. So Tompkins relied on crucial minutes from Murray Grant and Derek Dusek.
Maxey’s 46 points tied the 71-year-old record in the state’s highest classification set by Greenville’s Marcus Freiberger.
Maxey lamented about two missed free throws before Bieniemy’s big 3-pointer that would’ve pushed a South Garland lead to 71-67.
“Probably won’t get any sleep tonight,” Maxey said. “May just try to find a basketball court … and shoot free throws until my arms fall off.”
While the first half belonged to Maxey, the second half is where Bieniemy and Washington came alive for Tompkins, offsetting Maxey’s pace.
Washington scored nine in the third quarter and Bieniemy added eight. It came after a 8-of-25 shooting performance by Tompkins in the first half. Washington finished with a team-high 26 points.
That third-quarter momentum that Bieniemy and Washington sparked carried into the fourth, where the Falcons started on a 7-0 run. Dusek’s 3-pointer gave Tompkins a 55-50 lead with six minutes left.
Then came Tompkins’ eight point lead, which suddenly vanished. The Falcons’ win avenges a 76-50 loss to South Garland in the What a burger tournament in December.
South Garland coach Dominique Parker said Tompkins played with much more grit this time. Sanders agreed in a humorous way yet again.
“The first time we played them we had zero grit,” Sanders said. “Maybe negative grit. I don’t know what was wrong, but since the playoffs started, it’s been totally different. They’ve come together and played like men the whole time. It was totally different how we played defense, too.
“Except on No. 3 (Maxey).”