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Boys basketball: Allen closing in on playoff berth with win over Flower Mound

BY JUSTIN THOMAS, jthomas@acnpapers.com

Published: Tuesday, February 7, 2012 11:03 PM CST

FLOWER MOUND -- Flower Mound's boys basketball team played the final four minutes of Tuesday's District 8-5A contest against Allen with same tenacity that allowed them to come from 17 down Friday and beat Plano West, earning coach Henry Thomas his 500th win and keeping the Jaguar playoff hopes alive.

On Tuesday, however, an equally hungry Eagle team received a spark off the bench from Cameron Epps and executed down the stretch to escape with a 65-61 victory.

The win -- coupled with Hebron's loss Tuesday against Marcus -- puts Allen (7-5) in the driver's seat for a playoff spot. The Eagles lead Hebron (6-6) by one for third and fifth-place Lewisville (5-7) by two. The Jaguars (4-8) entered the matchup winners of 3-of-4 but instead fall into a tie for sixth with Plano East.

"We kept battling and fighting with them the whole way," said Steve Specht, Allen coach. "Being on the road, I guess we felt a little more pressure than I thought we would. We knew what they did against Plano West, and I have to hand it to them, they played great all the way through. But we settled in, got some big free throws and rebounds and did what we needed to do to put it away."

After a first half that saw Allen take a 2-point advantage at the break, the scoring increased in the second half, climaxing in a back-and-forth final four minutes that saw the teams combine for 25 points.

Following a Jared Stowers put-back for Flower Mound, Epps took advantage of a Jaguar miscue and raced down court for an and-1. A floater in the lane on the ensuing possession pushed the lead to three before Cortland Tolbert gave Allen its largest lead of the night at 54-49 with a bucket off the offensive glass. Epps posted seven of his game-high 15 points in the fourth on 3-of-4 shooting to go along with a pair of assists.

"Cameron gave us a great lift off of the bench," Specht said. "He had a great practice yesterday and came in tonight because of that. He showed us he wanted to play and it was an easy call. He got in there and got it done."

After Taylor Johnson and Jacob Rothbauer traded hoops, Flower Mound's Gearen Littlefield cleaned up the mess to cut the lead to three before Johnson connected from deep to even the contest at 56-56 with 1:49 remaining. It was the sixth tie of the second half, which also featured 12 lead changes.

The Eagles rattled off the next five points keyed by a break that saw Darrius Parker feed Tolbert for a deuce, however, Johnson again converted a 3-pointer to keep Flower Mound in it at 63-61.

Allen could finally breathe easy when Rothbauer got behind the defense and dished to Tay Evans for a bucket with three seconds remaining.

"We had a few turnovers and let them in the paint a little too much in that fourth quarter and it cost us," Thomas said. "Our guys don't quit. They've been like that all year long. But [Allen is] fighting for their playoff lives too."

The Jaguars held their largest lead early in the second at 18-11, taking advantage of their chances at the foul line by converting 9-of-10 in the half, but Allen closed strong and went to the third leading, 26-24.

In the third, Tucker McLemore caught fire for Flower Mound, posting 11 of his 13 points on 4-of-4 shooting, including three 3-pointers. Brett Bell, who scored a team-high 14 points, closed the third with a runner in the final seconds to send Flower Mound to the fourth in front, 44-43.

But the Eagles were able to make 7-of-10 shots in the fourth to hold off Flower Mound's surges.

Allen continues at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Plano (1-11) before closing the season at the same time Tuesday against Lewisville.

"We're excited for the chance to be a playoff team. I appreciate the crowd that came over here and we've seen how packed that football stadium can get, so hopefully we can get a great atmosphere for our last game."

Flower Mound -- hoping to close on a positive -- has a tough finish hosting fourth-place Hebron before going on the road against first-place Marcus.

"We had a lot of confidence coming in that we could win that thing and a lot of confidence that we could win our next two games," Thomas said. "These guys don't need any motivation to come in and play. We're just going to try and make things bad on Hebron Friday night."

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