North Crowley beats Eaton for Key City Classic title, The Colony wins third-place game
There were plenty of schedule changes for the final day of the Raising Cane's Key City Classic, but the championship and third-place games stayed the same with North Crowley claiming this year's title.
The Panthers went 4-0 over the weekend beating Peaster 67-31 to open things up on Thursday. They went on to beat Round Rock (53-49) and McKinney Boyd (38-37) on Friday to reach the championship. North Crowley held off Northwest Eaton 49-41 in the championship game.
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Eaton had a big comeback to beat San Antonio Harlan 55-54 to stay in the championship bracket. The Eagles then beat Fort Worth Wyatt (43-40) and The Colony (47-44) to reach the championship game with three wins by a combined seven points.
But the magic ran out for Eaton in the championship game.
The Colony bounced back from its loss against Eaton to beat McKinney Boyd 46-41 in the third-place game.
Staying flexible
The schedule was altered on both Friday and Saturday to give teams opportunities to play different opponents and avoid certain teams they will see later in the year. It was a little extra work for Abilene High coach Justin Reese, but work he felt was important for everyone involved.
"We wanted to take care of our teams," Reese said. "We had some teams in the same district, some teams that didn't want to play each other because they were playing next weekend, some teams had already played (each other) in the tournament. Our coaches who came here have been awesome and flexible. We all worked together to try and figure it out."
The changes included neither Abilene High or Cooper playing on Saturday after they were scheduled to face each other in the seventh-place. Meanwhile, Wylie had its games changed twice to avoid rematches with Fort Worth Nolan and Abilene High JV.
More: Abilene ISD's Key City Classic returns after one-year layoff because of COVID-19
The key, for everyone, was to play and take advantage of tournaments being back this season after they were not allowed last season due to COVID-19 protocols.
"I think we're all in the same boat this year," Reese said. "We didn't have tournaments last year, so we're just thankful to be playing games in a tournament. Coaches have been great, kids have been great, we've gotten to play some basketball and have some fun and get better. That's the big part."
Wylie wraps with loss to Northwest
The Classic finished the same way it started for Wylie, with a tough loss.
Even so, Wylie coach Gregg Ruffin saw his team take steps forward with two wins on Friday and even in Saturday's loss.
"I thought we did some things to be better," Ruffin said. "We gave up too many offensive rebounds today and then we didn't shoot the ball well enough. We've got to shoot the ball a lot better than that. We didn't today and that's the difference in the game."
At halftime, the Bulldogs were tied with Justin Northwest at 24, and the game was also tied at 30, but they struggled to score in the second half, including a long scoring drought in the third quarter of the 50-41 loss.
"They went on a run and we didn't respond," Ruffin said. "They didn't hit many shots, but they were getting rebounds for easy buckets. When you're not scoring, you've got to be really good on the defensive end and do everything right. We gave up some possessions on the defensive end that allowed them to get a lead on us and then we didn't make shots."
Wylie opened the tournament with a 41-38 setback against Fort Worth Nolan Catholic, taking it out of all bracket play. The Bulldogs bounced back with wins against the Abilene High JV (75-34) and Borger (59-49).
There were some hard-earned lessons the Bulldogs will take into the rest of their tournament schedule, including next week as Wylie hosts the Catclaw Classic. Wins are the goal, but a chance to play and get experience is almost as important.
"We're glad we're doing it, last year we didn't those opportunities," Ruffin said. "You missed out on tournaments which means you missed out on a lot of games to try to get better. So, as we head to this tournament stretch now, it's an opportunity to see different types of styles, play different types of people and, hopefully, get better ourselves as a team."
After hosting the Catclaw, Wylie will compete in the Texas Bank Tournament in Brownwood Dec. 28-30.
All-Tournament Team
MVP: Bryan Thomas, North Crowley
C.J. Williams, North Crowley; Trey Davis, North Crowley; Charles Whitebear, Eaton; Anden Holmes, Eaton; Grayson Ryan, The Colony; Jaidyn Cotta, The Colony; Jacob Porter, Keller Timber Creek; Reese Miller, Round Rock; Jae'lyn Brooks, Round Rock; Myles Rigsby, Fort Worth Wyatt; Colin Reed, Cooper; Kalon Hargrove, Harlan; Noah Drenth, Peaster; Patrick Hoffman, Nolan Catholic; Michael Jones, Nolan Catholic.d
Raising Cane’s Key City Classic
Thursday’s Games
At Abilene High
Game 1 – Peaster 59, Abilene High JV 44
Game 3 – Lewisville The Colony 66, Plainview 50
Game 6 – Abilene High 58, Borger 45
Game 7 – Northwest Eaton 55, San Antonio Harlan 54
Game 10 – Fort Worth Wyatt 58, Nolan Catholic 46
At Cooper
Game 2 – Fort Worth Nolan Catholic 41, Wylie 38
Game 4 – McKinney Boyd 56, Justin Northwest 44
Game 5 – Cooper 52, Keller Timber Creek 51
Game 8 – Round Rock 57, Midland Christian 39
Game 9 – North Crowley 67, Peaster 31
Friday’s Games
CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET
Quarterfinals
At Cooper
Game 16 – McKinney Boyd 63, Cooper 41
Game 17 – North Crowley 53, Round Rock 49
At Abilene High
Game 18 – Northwest Eaton 43, Fort Worth Wyatt 40
Game 19 – The Colony 54, Abilene High 29
Semifinals
At Abilene High
Game 26 – North Crowley 38, McKinney Boyd 37
Game 28 – Northwest Eaton 47, The Colony 44
Saturday’s Games
At Abilene High
Third-place Game
Game 25 – The Colony 46, McKinney Boyd 41
Championship
Game 37 – North Crowley 49, Northwest Eaton 41
FIFTH-PLACE BRACKET
At Cooper
Friday's Games
Game 25 – Round Rock 55, Cooper 52
Game 27 – Fort Worth Wyatt 82, Abilene High 41
Saturday's Games
At Cooper
Fifth-Place Game
Game 34 – Round Rock 72, Fort Worth Wyatt 55
CONSOLATION BRACKET
Friday’s Games
At Cooper
Game 12 – Plainview 53, Borger 32
Game 13 – San Antonio Harlan 43, Nolan Catholic 42
Game 14 – Timber Creek 61, Justin Northwest 48
At Abilene High
Game 15 – Peaster 56, Midland Christian 44
Consolation Semifinals
Game 22 – San Antonio Harlan 69, Plainview 44
Game 23 – Peaster 53, Timber Creek 48
Saturday’s Games
At Abilene High
Consolation Third-Place
Game 33 – Timber Creek 59, Plainview 36
Consolation Championship
Game 36 – San Antonio Harlan 64, Peaster 49
OTHER GAMES
Friday's Games
at Abilene High
Game 11 – Wylie 75, Abilene High JV 34
At Cooper
Game 20 – Wylie 59, Borger 49
Game 21 – Nolan Catholic 79, Abilene High JV 22
Game 24 – Midland Christian 40, Justin Northwest 35
Saturday's Games
at Abilene High
Game 29 – Midland Christian 58, AHS JV 17
Game 31 – Justin Northwest 50, Wylie 41
at Cooper
Game 30 – Nolan Catholic 75, Borger 65
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: North Crowley beats Eaton for Key City Classic title, The Colony third
