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Wildcats shoot Warriors down

By Andrew Snyder Staff Writer

Published: Friday, January 2, 2009 2:38 PM CST

For most of the Plano-South Grand Prairie game the Warriors had the momentum.

But most in this case didn’t win the game.

Scoring came fast in the fourth quarter. When Plano junior Jake Martin went up for two, the Warriors snapped back; when senior Rex Burkhead and junior Brandon Bailey went up for two, Prairie’s Aaron Frizell did the same; and when Bailey nailed a three-point shot, Chris Talkington repeated on the other side. But as the list dictates, the exchange was weighted the Wildcats way. Plano was undoing the advantage the Warriors had been building steadily and had rushed into the lead courtesy of three three-point shots from Bailey late in the third.

With 56.5 seconds left on the clock the Wildcats were ahead 68-66 and pushing toward the final. Prairie had to pull something off, and in the desperation sent Bailey to the line for four shots, two of which he made to set the final score at 70-66. It was a fitting end to a game that he had ruled over, with six three point shots on the night, contributing 18 points towards his 27 point total. He was the Wildcats savior and the highlight of Plano’s third place tournament win.

“I’m seen him shoot like crazy and at the half I told him to find his shot,” said Phil Parlin, Plano head coach. “And on the way from the locker room to the court he must have found it.”

Earlier in the game it wasn’t clear that one player would make the difference. The teams looked evenly matched and just when it looked like one would run away it, the other put together a point burst to keep in contention.

And the rivalry wasn’t just between the players, as the two Parlin brother coaches�Plano’s own Phil and Prairie’s Scottnbattled it out on the sidelines.

Phil Parlin admitted defeat.

“My little brother outcoached me,” he said.

Nearing the end of the quarter the defense on both sides of the ball took a step forward and reached too far, bringing a string of free throw shooting to end the first. The Wildcats fouled more often though and the Warriors combined free shots with a three from Frizell to put themselves ahead 20-13 at the buzzer.

And the second started with another Warrior on the free-throw line. Prairie continued to wrap up points from the line and Plano scorers weren’t producing. The Warriors kept the pressure up all over the court and forced the Wildcats into passing and dribbling errors.

Plano fell to an eleven point 28-17 deficit and if it weren’t for four points from senior Rex Burkhead, the player keeping the Wildcats alive, they would have sunk even further. Burkhead, who had 15 points, and Prairies Trey Norris, who matched Bailey at 27, were the games representatives to the all tournament team.

But with 3:00 minutes left the Wildcats picked up the pace. Two free throws from junior Zach Robles, who had 14 points on the night, fed into a shot from Bailey and a turn around run to the boards by Robles. Prairie tried to take the ball back at them but Plano shut the drive down and forced the Warriors to call a timeout.

Each team came out of the huddle at full speed and when Prairie took two points from the hands of a Wildcats rebound, Plano flung the ball down court to set up Bailey for a revenge score. Junior Jake Martin finished the half for the Wildcats with a score and free-throw, moving the team to a hard fought 35-28 deficit.

Coming out of the locker room the Warriors were once again quick on offense and defense. They matched the speed Plano carried over from the previous half by stealing and maintaining possessions. But the Wildcats weren’t falling back into the trap of giving away points, but Prairie was maintaining its lead nonetheless.

Prairie maintained its lead until Bailey hit his three three-point shots in rapid succession. Along with three points from Burkhead this pushed Plano to within one point of the Warriors the third quarter ended with a 49-48 Prairie lead and the perfect setup for Plano’s fourth quarter fireworks�the best way to bring in the new year.

With the confidence gained from this game the Wildcats are ready to charge back into district play.

“We played well,” Parlin said. “We need that going into a tough game against Wylie�I’m confident with the way things are going. We’re working well and just have to keep building on it.”

The team’s faceoff at Plano, 7:30 p.m. Friday.

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