Patriots give Knights a fight
His voice shot from coaching the biggest game of his life, San Antonio Veterans Memorial’s Steve Perez wished for one more possession.
Perhaps it would have made a difference. But the Patriots (36-5) did not get that chance, and Dallas Kimball prevailed 50-47 in a Class 5A state semifinal Thursday night at the Alamodome.
“You play 32 minutes, and it comes down to a one-possession game,” Perez said. “We’ve been very fortunate to come out on the right side, and unfortunately we did not tonight, and it wasn’t because of lack of effort. The guys played hard, and they gave everything they had. I’m very proud of these guys.”
Not many believed a sixth-year program making its state debut could hang with the top-ranked Knights. But the Patriots defended well and nearly toppled the six-time state champion and 14-time state tournament qualifier.
Don’t count Kimball coach Nicke Smith as a nonbeliever.
“They earned this,” Smith said of the Patriots. “They were supposed to be here. A lot of people were saying, ‘How did they get here?’ I said the final four teams play at state, and you are here for a reason. It was a hard-fought game. I told my guys we just need one more point than they have.”
The Knights sank 4 of 6 free throws in the final 1:10 to lock it up.
The Knights (32-2) will play Killeen Ellison (37-3) for the Clas 5A state championship at 3 p.m. Saturday in the Alamodome. Ellison defeated Mansfield Summit, 52-50, in the other semifinal.
“We can’t knock our effort,” Veterans Memorial senior forward Tyler Cook said. “I wished it turned out different, but we left it all out on the floor.”
The Patriots locked down on the Knights’ leading scorer, T’johnn Brown, who made 1 of 13 shots from the field. Most of his 10 points came from the free-throw line, where he was 8 of 10.
He averaged 18.1 points heading into Thursday’s game.
Kimball was just 16 of 47 from the field (34 percent) and only 3 of 14 from the arc.
“These guys, they really defend,” Perez said of his players. “They’re tough. They take a lot of pride in that. We needed it all tonight, and if only we could have gotten one more stop.”
The Patriots shot a little better than Kimball, going 16 of 40 from the field (40.0 percent). But they went just 12 of 23 from the line.
Junior guard Damarion Dennis led the Patriots with 16 points, and junior guard Gervai Maeweathers added 10. Cook had 10 rebounds as the Patriots finished with a 34-31 edge on the boards.
Perez thought his team stayed level-headed despite the game’s high stakes and playing in the spacious Alamodome.
“You’re in the ring with these guys,” Perez said told his players. “The main thing is that you’ve got to come out and play like you’ve been there. We played a lot of basketball games, and I think we did a good job of treating it like another game no matter how high the level.”
The Patriots thought they dispelled the notion of a perceived talent disparity between San Antonio and the rest of the state.
“It does mean a lot coming from San Antonio knowing we are considered a little brother to Dallas or Houston,” senior guard Zack Rygg said. “Playing with a team like Kimball was very big for us, and I hope we made our region proud.”