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The black and gold standard: Panthers enjoy most productive season in five years
BY Matt Welch, mwelch@starlocalnews.com
Few teams undergo the transition from missing the playoffs one year to emerging as one of the state's very best the next.
The 2012-13 season was a bevy of expectations unbeknownst to the Plano East boys basketball team and, although the team's ultimate goal was denied, the Panthers still enjoyed their most productive run in five years.
"Right away, we started talking about a state championship," said Jeff Clarkson, East head coach. "I don't know if they thought I was crazy at first, but that was our goal. ... I think as we went along they started to believe it and although we felt short of that, these guys still accomplished a lot and have nothing to be ashamed of."
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Those strides weren't made overnight or due to an overhaul in personnel.
In his first year at the helm of the program, Clarkson said he made it a point to instill a defensive mindset for a team that, on paper, had the size and athleticism to make some noise. For the coach, that vision became to show flashes of potential during the latter stages of tournament season, initially at the Cedar Hill Lions Club Tournament when the Panthers held Class 4A powerhouse Arlington Seguin to 11 points in the first half before surrendering a 43-40 decision.
"I think that Seguin game was my first indication," Clarkson said. "That was a really good team and in some ways we dominated that game. Although we didn't come out on top, we showed the potential to be really, really good."
The momentum carried over into the Whataburger Tournament where East dispatched of Richland, Duncanville and Richardson Berkner -- all ranked among the state's top 20 -- en route to finishing second.
From there, the bar was raised even higher.
The Panthers went on to achieve the program's first-ever unbeaten district run -- a 10-game stretch in 10-5A where East outscored opponents by an average of 16.7 points.
"The guys just kept getting better and better throughout district," Clarkson said. "Going undefeated is never easy, especially with the quality of teams we had in our district. From what I could find, it's the first time that's ever happened for our boys basketball program."
When East was on its game, Clarkson said the team's defense ranked up there with any he's ever coached. Offensively, the Panthers displayed the rare potency of having seven different leading scorers throughout the season -- led by senior District MVP Pat Birt (10.8 points, 6.3 rebounds) plus first-team all-district seniors Marcus Mathieu (9.7 points, 2.3 assists) and Jarvis Pugh (9.5 points, 5.7 rebounds).
It all set the table for the team's most promising playoff run in years, a spurt that equated wins over Skyline, Rowlett and Richardson before suffering a 52-50 season-ender to Austin Anderson in the Region II Semifinals.
"We didn't shoot the ball well and had a few breakdowns defensively, but the shots we gave up were still tough and Anderson took advantage," Clarkson said. "We had every opportunity to take that game, but just didn't have a good offensive night."
What East was left with was the team's deepest playoff run since 2007-08 and a win total identical to that group. It also marked the end for an experienced senior class of Birt, Mathieu, Pugh, Sawyer Kipp, Chico Morales, Xavier Smith, David Havala and Collin Shaw.
"The seniors really bought in and led," Clarkson said. "They left a great legacy behind for these juniors to follow because they worked hard. This didn't just fall into their lap; they hard to work for it."
As focus shifts to the offseason, juniors Trey Patterson (all-district second team) and Zach Smith now shoulder the workload as East attempts to build off a season that put the program back on the map.
"We'll be a different looking team, but I feel good about the types of kids we have," Clarkson said. "We have a lot of work to do, but I think we can be successful with these guys. We'll try to keep ourselves relevant for sure, but that's the challenge and the fun part of it all."
For continued news and coverage on the local sports scene, follow @MWelchSCN on Twitter.
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