Boys basketball: Farmers top Flower Mound in coach Henry Thomas' return to Lewisville

LEWISVILLE -- The homecoming for former Lewisville and current Flower Mound coach Henry Thomas was spoiled by the Farmers Friday night as Lewisville held off a late Jaguar surge for a 72-60 victory.

The win snaps a five-game losing skid for the Farmers (3-6) and leaves Thomas -- who was on the bench for Lewisville for the previous six seasons -- two wins shy of career-victory No. 500 as the Jaguars dropped to 2-7.

Cameron King scored a game-high 20 points, including 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point range, while Ray Dorsey contributed 17 and Jaden Wright posted 15.

"Those guys shot the ball well tonight," Thomas said. "Every game they're shooting well against us. They have three wins and two of them are against me. I don't know, maybe they see me out there and know what they have to do."

Flower Mound was paced by T.J. Johnson, who posted a team-high 18 points, while Brett Bell chipped in 16 and Justin Gammill scored 11.

"It wasn't pretty, but I'll take it," added Gary Collier, Lewisville coach. "We wanted to make sure we get a hand up on the shooters. And [Johnson], even though we had a hand up, he did a good job of shooting the ball. But I think we played them a little better in the second half. They tried to make a run at us, but we did a good job of kind of keeping them at bay."

Wright got the Farmers out to a positive start, scoring the game's first basket before connecting with Dorsey for a 3-pointer and a 5-0 lead. Johnson responded with a long-range make of his own -- one of four on the night -- setting the stage for a high-paced first quarter. Clark scored seven in the first as Lewisville gained a 21-15 advantage, before knocking down all three of his 3-point attempts in the second as the Farmers took a 39-23 lead to halftime.

"I was very pleased with the way Cameron played tonight," Collier said. "He's been shooting the ball well all week and when he gets one or two to fall early, he can really get going. He heated up for us and that makes it so much easier."

The squad maintained a healthy lead in the third, before the Jaguars made a run late in the fourth as Lewisville was unable to take advantage at the free-throw line.

The Farmers shot 20-of-38 from the line for the game and during one stretch in the fourth missed 10-of-13 before settling down in the final minute.

"We talked about it after the game," Collier said. "We have to make free throws and tonight we missed way too many."

Flower Mound, meanwhile, was getting to the line on its own and at one point trimmed the 17-point deficit to as few as six on a pair of occasions. Bell converted 9-of-10 from the line in the second half, while Gammill scored five of his 11 in the final quarter and finished 5-of-5 on 2-point field goals.

Trailing by six with in the closing minutes, a Jaguar foul was compounded with a technical giving the Farmers four free throws and the ball to seal the win.

"We just couldn't make shots early," Thomas said. "They were all over T.J. and when he comes out, then they go to the zone, and we couldn't make shots from the perimeter. Brett couldn't get anything to fall early and it made for a long night.

"I think we were a little hesitant. A lot of times, and especially with [Johnson], I think when they touch it they should shoot it. But he's just so unselfish even though he's one of the best 3-point shooters in the area."

Malcolm Brown led Lewisville with eight rebounds to go with nine points, while Wright had six. Nick Post paced the squad with four assists and five boards while scoring six. The Farmers limited Bell -- who has the two-highest rebounding games in Flower Mound history -- to six boards. Gammill led the Jaguars with seven off the glass.

"I was pretty pleased with our rebounding," Collier said. "I think coach Thomas has Bell, and their whole team really, playing much more aggresively right now. He's real long and creates a lot of matchup problems, but we did a good job on him tonight."

Lewisville looks for a second straight win to get back in the playoff hunt at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Plano Senior (1-8). The Farmers won the first meeting Jan. 6, 56-51.

"We feel good," Collier said. "We knew we needed to get this one tonight and we have to come back and win Tuesday about Plano to get back to where we need to be. We need some other teams to lose, and I hate having to rely on other teams, but that's how this district is. We just hope some of the teams we need to lose do."

The Jaguars host Plano East (3-6) at the same time and date.

"It's going to be tough," Thomas said. "We have Plano East Tuesday and they're playing well. It was a dogfight over there, so it's going to be just as tough to get a win in Flower Mound. We have to do a better job of protecting the paint if we want to win."

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