AUSTIN — With their frenzied full-court press, breakneck tempo and high-scoring ways, the Yates Lions entered the Class 4A tournament as the show everyone wanted to see.
The show they put on Thursday night was far from their most impressive, but it was still good enough to help the Lions earn the chance to defend their state championship on Saturday.
In a game that included a collection of collisions, errant passes and missed layups and an abundance of turnovers on both sides, the Lions rang up a 106-76 victory over The Colony in the semifinals at the Frank Erwin Center before a crowd of 14,928.
The victory puts No. 1 Yates in the state final for the second consecutive year. The Lions (33-0) will face No. 2 Lancaster (36-2), a 64-56 winner over Austin Lake Travis, in the title game at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at the Erwin Center.
And by reaching the 100-point mark for the 15th consecutive time, the Lions broke the national record previously held by the 1969-70 Hobbs (N.M.) team. The Lions have hit 100 points 26 times this season.
“It’s great, and we’ve worked real hard for it,” said Yates senior guard Elton Roy, who scored 23 points and hit six 3-pointers. “We just go out and play, and we set a goal for ourselves to try and hit 100 in every game.”
Achieving the record, which happened when Joseph Young (20 points) sank a layup with 37 seconds remaining, put smiles on the Lions’ faces on a night when it seemed nothing came easy.
It was clear at the start that the Lions, who have won 57 consecutive games dating to last season, weren’t their usual high-energy selves. Their press still yielded 34 Cougars turnovers, but the Lions had difficulty converting on the offensive end.
Peters carries early load
For the third consecutive game, senior guard Brandon Peters carried the load for the Lions in the first half. The Western Kentucky commitment scored 16 first-quarter points and 25 in the first half, which included a collection of crowd-pleasing dunks to pace Yates’ efforts. Though they appeared stagnant at times, the Lions still led by double digits at halftime, 51-36.
“He has done that any time we’ve needed it,” Yates coach Greg Wise said of Peters. “Hopefully on Saturday, we won’t need it, but he’ll come out and give us everything we need, and hopefully the rest of the guys will also.”
In the third quarter, when the Lions customarily pull away from teams, The Colony (30-9) wouldn’t back down. Twice the Cougars cut Yates’ lead to single digits, including at the 1:43 mark after a jumper by Austin Chatman (19 points) made the score 63-54. Peters (29 points) also got into foul trouble, picking up his fourth at the 5:06 mark, forcing him to the bench for the remainder of quarter.
Yates closed out the quarter on a 9-2 run, which included back-to-back 3s from Roy and Young, to take a 72-56 lead into the fourth quarter. The Lions started the fourth on an 11-3 run to open up an 83-59 lead at the 5:50 mark, and the Cougars would not seriously threaten for the rest of the night.
“I thought we missed a lot of opportunities early that would have gone in our favor,” The Colony coach Cleve Ryan said. “But in this big stage, playing that team, I think we were a little tight.
“We came at this game the same way we came to all of them. There is no question that they are a tremendous team, but I am really proud of my team and the way they stepped up.”
Picking up the energy
Still, the Lions were too much for the Cougars. Darius Gardner, who suffered a rib injury in Thursday’s physical battle, feels the Lions will have to come out with a better energy level Saturday than they did against The Colony if they want to win their second consecutive state championship.
“We just didn’t come out the way we always do,” said Gardner, who finished with nine assists. “We have to pick it up. We’ll have a team meeting and talk about what we need to do as players.”
