Brennan, Warren advance to 4th round
Brennan and Warren — District 29-6A’s top two finishers — advanced to the Region IV-6A semifinals with victories Tuesday.
Brennan defeated Taft 62-42 and Warren beat Harlan 73-52 in an all-29-6a playoff doubleheader at Northside Sports Gym.
Brennan (30-7) will face Round Rock Stony Point (32-1) and Warren (31-6) will battle San Marcos (37-3) on Friday at Northside Sports Gym. The winners face off at 2 p.m. Saturday for a state tournament berth.
Warren senior forward Jaylen Crocker-johnson had 22 points, 20 rebounds and six blocks to send the Warriors past the Hawks for the third time this season.
Warren finished strong after Harlan tied it at 26 with 3:30 left in the third quarter.
The Warriors responded with 9-2 run to end the period. It was a much-needed spurt after Warren had scored just nine points since the end of the first quarter, when the Warriors led 17-5.
“Coach came up with a good game plan,” said Crocker-johnson, who is signed with Arkansas-little Rock. “We played a new defense over the week. We just executed it. We got stops.
We knew they weren’t a shooting-threat team. We got stops and kept pushing it down the floor.”
Senior guard Aden Mendez scored 16 and senior forward Cole Terry added 13 for the Warriors.
Harlan (20-12) was led by senior guard Jayden Gordon’s 15 points.
Gordon got the Hawks back in the game by scoring seven points in the first 3:10 of the third quarter. Jarin Hall tied it at 26 with a layup.
Mendez then sank a 3-pointer that sparked Warren’s big finish.
In Tuesday’s other game, Brennan trailed 28-27 at halftime before outscoring the Raiders 24-8 in the third quarter to take a commanding lead.
Bears sophomore guard Kingston Flemings scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half.
Flemings also showed off the range with a 3-pointer that capped the third quarter for a 5136 lead.
“We were attacking the rim, mainly,” Flemings said of Brennan’s big third quarter. “We were settling for a lot of 3s in the first half, so in the second half we were in transition and attacked the rim. I think they scored eight points in the third quarter. We played defense, pushed out to the lanes and attacked the rim.”
The Bears’ inside players — 6-foot-6 freshman Isaiah Ward and 6-7 senior Robert Jackson — benefited from the attacking play. Ward finished with 13 and Jackson had all of his eight points in the final two quarters.
Brennan led by as many as 21 midway through the fourth quarter. Flemings ended his big night with a steal and dunk for a 60-43 lead with 3:48 left.
“We were feeling good,” Flemings said. “We were trying to take no one lightly and just end them.”
Sophomore guard Camden Cowgill added 13 for Brennan.
It was the Bears’ third victory over the Raiders this season after sweeping them in District 29-6A play.
The Raiders (22-14) were led by senior forward Tristan Holden’s 12 points. J.D. Riojas had 11.