Front-running Lubbock Monterey holds off Abilene Wylie boys in basketball thriller

It took some time for the Wylie boys basketball team to find its identity, after the Bulldogs didn’t get some key personnel until after the football team finished a deep run in the playoffs.

But Wylie has found itself, and the Bulldogs are playing some great basketball – just ask Lubbock Monterey.

Wylie gave the District 4-5A leader fits Friday night, before the Plainsmen held on for a 56-53 victory at Bulldog Gym.

“I was proud of how hard we played,” Wylie coach Gregg Ruffin said. “I thought it was a tough-fought game. They’re on top of the district for a reason. They’re a really good team.”

Afterward, Monterey coach Josh Davis was grateful to get out of Abilene with a win.

“I’m really proud of them fighting and overcoming a lot of mistakes in me and really earning this win tonight,” Davis said.

Mistakes? So what would Davis like to have done differently?

“Quite a few things,” Davis said. “I’ll double check myself on the film. (My team) played really well. I felt like I was a step behind them all night, but they rose ahead of me. I was excited for them to overcome, whether that was me or the road environment. The 10 guys on the team got it done tonight.”

Wild one at Bulldog Gym

The game featured 12 lead changes and four ties. Monterey, which led 29-28 at halftime, scored the first five points of the second half, but Wylie came back to score seven unanswered points for a 35-34 lead.

After the teams exchanged baskets, Monterey outscored the Bulldogs 6-1 the final 4:14 of the third quarter for a 42-38 advantage.

The Plainsmen never trailed, but it stayed close.

It was a three-point game (49-46) with 3:03 to go, when Zyrin Brantley hit a basket and the Plainsmen scored three more points off two turnovers for a 54-45 lead with 1:26 remaining.

Derek Evans answered with a basket, and the Bulldogs forced two turnovers with Evans getting his fourth basket of the quarter before Kazion Brown hit a 3-pointer after the second turnover – a charge on the inbounds pass following Evans’ bucket – to cap a 7-0 Wylie run. That made it a one-point game with 24 seconds remaining.

Brantley, however, hit two free throws with 12 seconds to go, after Wylie was forced to foul, and Martin Marshall’s 3-point attempt at the buzzer missed its mark.

“When you’ve got two teams battling like that, it comes down to the little things possession by possession,” Ruffin said. “We had a couple of turnovers late that kind of hurt us, but (Monterey) caused that. Good teams can figure out ways to battle through that, and we did. We battled through that and had a shot at the end to tie it.”

Davis was impressed with the Bulldogs and the environment at a packed Bulldog Gym.

“They ran great stuff, guarded us really well,” Davis said. “It was a great back-and-forth district game. I told them going into the fourth (quarter) this is a playoff atmosphere. It’s loud and everything feels stacked against you. It’s time to lift up and overcome and get the job done.”

Brantley, a 6-foot senior guard, scored a game-high 27 points to lead Monterey (20-8 overall, 8-0 district). TK Young followed with 10, while Azion Luke had eight.

Evans and Brown led the Bulldogs (11-16, 3-5) with 17 points each. Isaiah Carrillo added nine, and Marshall had eight.

In other district games Friday, Abilene High beat Lubbock High 57-42, while Lubbock Coronado beat Lubbock-Cooper 70-55. Abilene Cooper had a bye.

Bulldogs coming together

Evans, who didn’t join the team until after the football season, pounded the ball inside while Brown hit five of his team’s eight 3-point goals. Marshall also hit two treys.

Evans was coming off a 34-point effort in a 62-59 win over Abilene Cooper on Tuesday at Cougar Gym. Until then, the Cougars had only lost to Monterey in district.

What the Bulldogs have become, especially with the 6-3 junior Evans inside, is a far cry from where they were before district started.

“I think we were just running fast and shooting at a lot of 3s and attacking the basket,” Ruffin said. “We kind of changed that. We want to be a team that’s hard to guard, and I think we were tonight. Cooper kind of let us play one-and-one, and Derek was able to have a big game.

“So now if we throw inside and teams collapse (inside), we’ve got to be able to kick out and hit some shots. We hit some tonight. We also missed some that were wide open that we will hit a lot of. We just didn’t hit enough of them tonight.”

Yet Ruffin likes how his team is playing.

“Our inside game is getting confidence. If we can do an outside game and inside game, you become harder to guard,” Ruffin said. “So, that’s what we’ve been working on, and I think we’re getting better.”

The Bulldogs control their own fate for a playoff berth. Wylie is tied with Abilene High and Lubbock-Cooper for the fourth and final playoff berth – all 3-5 in district.

Wylie has three road games remaining – Lubbock High (Tuesday), Coronado (Friday) and AHS (Feb. 10). The Bulldogs get Lubbock-Cooper in Abilene on Feb. 7. Wylie lost to Lubbock-Cooper in the first meeting, while beating AHS.

Everyone chasing Monterey

The victory keeps the Plainsmen two games ahead of Abilene Cooper and Lubbock Coronado in the loss column with four games remaining.

A loss against Wylie would have thrown the district title up for grabs. Monterey plays Abilene Cooper on Tuesday in Lubbock, before going to Coronado on Feb. 10.

“Being 6-0 in the first round was big, but everybody knows they get to play you again,” Davis said. “The more you can beat people that second time and continue to separate, the more the rest of these games get easier. … It was big to keep our two-game cushion with four to play. Hopefully, we can finish this thing out.”

The Plainsmen won all three road games against Abilene teams this season – beating Abilene Cooper 40-37 on Jan. 6 and Abilene High 64-39 on Wednesday before the win at Wylie.

“Being 3-0 out here is big for us,” Davis said.

Monterey also swept the district series from both Abilene High and Wylie with the rematch against the Cougars coming up Tuesday.

DISTRICT 4-5A

Lubbock Monterey 56, Wylie 53

Monterey … 16 … 13 … 13 … 14 – 56

Wylie … 18 … 10 … 10 … 15 – 53

LUBBOCK MONTEREY (20-8, 8-0) – Azion Luke 3 0-0 8, Zyrin Brantley 10 4-4 27, Christian Williams 0 0-0 0, Kash Lewis 2 0-0 5, TK Young 4 1-2 10, Carter Bovkoon 2 2-3 6. Totals 21 7-8 56.

WYLIE (11-16, 3-5) – Derek Evans 7 3-4 17, Jaden Torres 0 0-0 0, K.J. Long 0 0-0 0, Isaiah Carrillo 3 2-2 9, Kazion Brown 6 0-2 17, Martin Marshall 3 0-0 8, Hunter Hood 1 0-0 2, Quentin Whitted 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 5-8 53.

3-Point Goals – Monterey 7 (Luke 2, Brantley 3, Lewis, Young), Wylie 8 (Carrillo, Brown 5, Marshall 2). Totals Fouls – Monterey 10, Wylie 9. Fouled Out – None. Technical Fouls – None.

Monterey girls rout Lady Bulldogs

Aaliyah Chavez and Ambrosia Cole combined for 51 points as No. 1 Monterey crushed Wylie 80-15 in Friday's opener.

Chavez, a sophomore guard, scored a game-high 28 points, while Cole followed with 23. Jaelyn Morrison added 19 for the Lady Plainsmen (25-3, 9-1).

Kaylan Adams led Wylie (13-17, 2-7) with seven points.

Monterey, which led 45-9 at halftime, hit 10 3-point goals in the game, including four each by Chavez and Morrison. Wylie had only six field goals – none 3s.

The win keeps the Lady Plainsmen tied with No. 6 Lubbock-Cooper for the district lead. Lubbock-Cooper beat Coronado 70-55 on Friday. Monterey and Lubbock-Cooper (23-6, 9-1) split their two district meetings. Both have clinched playoff berths.

Wylie plays at Lubbock High on Tuesday.

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Lubbock Monterey turns away Abilene Wylie in district boys basketball