Battle of the Backcourts
Lancaster Tigers (78) – South Garland Colonels (76) Tuesday night provided one of the best matchups in the state of Texas. The true battle of the backcourts. #3. Lancaster has without a doubt the best backcourt in 5A (Wade Taylor IV…
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Continue ReadingLancaster Tigers (78) – South Garland Colonels (76)
Tuesday night provided one of the best matchups in the state of Texas. The true battle of the backcourts. #3. Lancaster has without a doubt the best backcourt in 5A (Wade Taylor IV and Mike Miles), while #6. South Garland holds the same title for 6A (Tyrese Maxey and Chris Harris Jr.). It was a great chance to see how they matched up and which backcourt would lead their team to victory.
The highly anticipated matchup looked one-sided from the get go. South Garland jumped out on Lancaster, leading 28-7 in the first quarter behind 10 points from Tyrese Maxey and 6 points from Khalil Davis. Lancaster cut the lead down to ten {31-41} by the end of the half as Wade Taylor IV woke up and had a 12-point second quarter.
At the start of the second half, you could tell the underclassmen backcourt was ready to play. The Tigers finally erased the 21 point deficit to take a 3 point lead going into the fourth. From then on, the game was back and fourth, but Taylor stepped up and made timely three-pointers (including the go ahead three with 15-17 seconds remaining in the game). Taylor’s late game heroics gave Lancaster a lead of 75-74.
The next possession, South Garland missed their field goal attempt and Taylor was intentionally fouled. He split the free throws and South Garland got another crack at it. Down two, Tyrese Maxey attacked the rim and drew the foul. He received the chance to knot the game up at 76 even. With the crowd chanting “overrated” to the Kentucky commit, he calmly sinked both free throw attempts.
After the timeout, Lancaster had eight seconds to make something happen. Mike Miles advanced the ball through pressure to the corner. The backside defense collapsed and Brandilon Kirk was found for the open game-winning layup. The Tigers squeezed by the Colonels and came away victorious.
Top Performers:Tigers
Wade Taylor IV / 5’10″ / PG / Lancaster Tigers / 2021 ????Player of the Game????
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After a scoreless first quarter, Taylor woke up and came to play. He has a quick trigger from deep and is an acrobatic finisher through traffic under the rim. Taylor showed that he has ice in his veins as he made big time plays in the nail biting win. He finished with a team high 29 points (5 3PT FGM) and is awarded the player of the game.
Mike Miles / 6’2″ / PG / Lancaster Tigers / 2020
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“Mike Mike” was aggressive in getting to the rim and finishing. He took good looks from three (2 3PT FGM), but is always at his best when he gets to the rack, which opens up the rest of his game. Miles finished well in the paint scored 21 points in the win.
Top Performers:Colonels
Tyrese Maxey / 6’4″ / SG / South Garland / 2019
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The Kentucky commit came ready to play. Maxey has great body control and can get to the rim with ultimate ease. Those two factors alone will allow you to draw a lot of fouls. He hit one three from beyond NBA range, but what at his best scoring from 17 feet and within. The number one player in the state scored a game-high 36 points in the matchup.
Chris Harris Jr. / 6’3″ / SG / South Garland / 2019
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The strong-framed pitbull can impact a game on the glass as much as he does with his shooting. Harris was a rebound magnet and was at his usual self getting to his spots within two-point range and converting. The Aggie commit finished with 13 points in the loss.