Lipan was able to put together a pair of big runs in the second and fourth quarter which were enough to hold off a scrappy Gruver Greyhound team for a 63-53 victory in the UIL Class 2A Division II state semifinals Monday night at the Rip Griffin Center on the campus of Lubbock Christian University.
Gruver, which also reached the state semifinals during the football season, finishes a stellar basketball season at 23-1, winning 23 straight games before their loss to the Indians.
“It was a great season, no matter the outcome of this game,” Gruver head coach Brittin East said. “The guys did everything we asked them to do and picked it up fast coming out of football. We are one of only 11 Gruver teams to make it this far, and that’s a big deal. Winning the region is a big deal, because that is hard to do. It was a tremendous year, and I’m proud of what we accomplished.”
Lipan (38-1) is headed to the UIL Class 2A Division II state title game to take on defending champion, Martin’s Mill (34-4), which is set for 7 p.m. Thursday night at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
The Greyhounds got off to a great start, leading 16-11, highlighted by a buzzer-beating three-quarter length of the floor shot by Mason Lankford that hit nothing but net.
[Video courtesy of KAMR/KCIT sports reporter Corrin Davis.]
It was the second quarter, however, that put the Greyhounds in a hole they had to start digging out of. The Indians responded in a hurry behind standout Court Gaylor. Gruver’s defense didn’t have an answer for Gaylor, who led a 15-2 run to open the second stanza, scoring 10 points in eight minutes. Behind Gaylor, the Indians were able to take a 29-22 lead into the break.
The third quarter was another rough one for Gruver. With Lankford drawing his fourth foul, and having to sit out the final three-plus minutes of the third, Lipan continued to stay in control leading 47-35. Instead of folding and calling it a season, the Greyhounds came roaring back in the fourth quarter with one final push.
“We were a little flat in the second quarter,” East said. “We missed some easy buckets and we weren’t creating contact like we needed to. Lipan used its length and were able to hit shots. The third quarter was tough because Mason (Lankford) was on the bench in foul trouble. We’ve been there before, but in a state semifinal that’s tough. We were trying to hang with one of the best teams in the state without him. He still had a great game, but it was hard without him on the floor.”
In the first two minutes of the final frame, Jett Pittman and Lankford sparked a rally, as Gruver went on a 12-2 run, cutting Lipan’s lead to 49-47 with 5:57 left. That was the final gasp for Gruver, as the Indians took the momentum right back, with Gaylor leading a 10-0 spirt, that had Lipan running away for the 63-53 victory.
“We finally got Jett (Pittman) going and we were able to run on them a little bit,” East said. “We made a push and I thought from there, we could just defend and play the game, but we then took some tough shots and tried to make plays, but Lipan was good down the stretch. Court Gaylor was very good and hard to defend. He took over.”
Gaylor was incredible the entire game, scoring a game-high 36 points, with 16 of those in the fourth quarter alone, and buried five, 3-pointers on the night.
Despite foul trouble, Lankford tallied a team-high 24 points for Gruver with Pittman registering 14 points, hitting a pair of 3-pointers.