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Progress towards perfection: East batters Boyd, remains unbeaten in 10-5A
BY Matt Welch, mwelch@starlocalnews.com
McKINNEY -- Friday night was a case study in the evolution of both the Plano East (7-0 in district) and McKinney Boyd (1-6) boys basketball teams.
Two-and-a-half weeks ago, the Broncos were the Panthers' equal for three quarters before East pulled away. In Friday's rematch, Boyd failed to last so much as three minutes as East's equal in a 60-47 win that kept the Panthers perfect in district.
"I feel like we've been taking steps in each game," said Jeff Clarkson, East head coach. "I think the guys are getting more comfortable playing with each other and I'm getting more comfortable coaching them.
The Panthers didn't establish an eight-point lead over Boyd until there were 10 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter during the team's 36-28 win Jan. 15.
Friday, East opened up a 10-2 lead less than three minutes into the opening quarter.
Senior Pat Birt fired away for a pair of 3-pointers to start and baskets by seniors Sawyer Kipp and Marcus Mathieu followed to pace the early advantage. The Broncos, who have averaged just 48.5 points in district, didn't aid their cause by compiling just six points through the first eight minutes.
"We just haven't been shooting the ball well," said Nathaniel Christian, Boyd head coach. "We're shooting from the outside at around 25 percent and for a team with our lack of size, we have to shoot from three a lot better than that and it bit us again tonight."
The Panthers didn't incur any such slump.
East capped the opening frame with a fastbreak dunk by senior Xavier Smith for a 15-6 lead. Senior Jarvis Pugh, who scored 10 points in the win, enjoyed a transition dunk of his own with 1:44 remaining in the first half for a 24-13 lead. The Broncos got the last laugh though by snagging three offensive rebounds during their final possession of the half, which ended with senior Michael Grant draining a 3 for a 24-16 trail at the break.
"Michael was great tonight," Christian said. "It's been a slow maturation to this point and he's been playing real well. When he plays like that, especially attacking the basket and shooting from the outside, it gives us a lot of opportunities."
Grant scored 18 points Friday, 11 of which came in the first half.
Although he was Boyd's sole consistent scoring threat, Grant had a tougher time finding clean looks as the game went on with Birt, plagued by early foul trouble, guarding most of the second half.
"We changed up a few things from last time, but I thought we did a much better job this time around defending their offense," Clarkson said. "Overall, we did a better job, made shots early and played much better from the start."
Birt got in his looks on offense too, scoring a team-high 17 points to go with four rebounds, three steals and two blocks. Equally imposing in the second half was Mathieu, who scored 12 of his 17 over the final 16 minutes. The two combined for 23 of East's 36 second-half points.
The Panthers led by as many as 18 points midway through the fourth and cruised to their ninth straight win -- seventh consecutive in district play.
"[East] is one of the best teams in the state," Christian said. "Whenever you have a situation where you have their size and talent, plus with how much they've improved, they're a team you'll see late in the playoffs."
The Panthers continue Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. on the road against Plano West while Boyd looks to stay in the playoff chase at that same time when it travels to McKinney.
For continued news and coverage on the local sports scene, follow @MWelchSCN on Twitter.
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