With Thanksgiving lurking 24 hours away Wednesday afternoon, just getting through the day to enjoy turkey and football became the main goal for two boys metro basketball teams at the Tascosa Activity Center.
While only one will get to take home a perfect week from the second annual Amarillo National Bank Yellow City Classic, the other one will head into the long weekend with the satisfaction of a job well done.
For the second straight year, Amarillo High emerged as the tournament champion, grinding out a 47-33 win over Canyon to remain undefeated on the season. It was probably the least artistic win of the four games over three days for the Sandies (7-0), but the fatigue factor likely played a big part in the lack of offensive spark for either team.
The rest of this story is only for subscribers.
The result was certainly pleasant for veteran AHS coach Jason Pillion, yet also as difficult as expected.
“It wasn’t just easy breezy the entire tournament,” Pillion said. “We had some valleys. We shot it well and shooting the ball well covers up a multitude of sins, but I felt like we handled those mistakes and responded from them when the grind hit.”
Against Canyon (4-2) the Sandies struggled to find their range from the field early. After hitting 11 3-pointers in Tuesday’s 58-50 semifinal win over Palo Duro, Amarillo High didn’t hit a single one from beyond the arc in the first quarter in falling behind 8-6.
Things heated up in the second quarter, though, as the Sandies four 3s, including a fallaway by Jax Richards just before the buzzer to go up 24-15 at halftime.
It seemed like the emotional energy Canyon built up from a pair of close wins Tuesday was nearly exhausted by halftime against the Sandies. The Eagles reached the championship game by beating last year’s Class 4A Division II state semifinalist Krum 60-58 then beat private school powerhouse Lubbock Trinity 50-48 in the semifinal.
“Today I felt like we defended very well and to hold a team like Amarillo High to 47 points isn’t going to happen very often,” said first-year Canyon coach Kyle Lovorn. “Unfortunately the ball wasn’t going in the hole for us. There’s a lot of factors for that playing four tough games in three days. It can kind of kill your legs when you get to that final one, but I have a lot of respect for the kids.”
Although the game never turned into a rout, the Eagles were unable to get within double digits after the opening minute of the third quarter. The Sandies led by as many as 18 points in the second half.
Hud Schaeffer led Amarillo High with 13 points. Richards scored 11 as he struggled get his shot off after torching Palo Duro for 32 points and six 3-pointers the day before.
Jordan Webber had a game-high 14 points for Canyon, 12 of them in the second half to keep the Eagles competitive. Hanson Williamson added 11, but the problem for the Eagles was that only two other players scored.
A lot of that is a reflection of Amarillo High’s defense, which has been a signature of the Sandies under Pillion and which was at its best against Canyon.
“That’s what these young guys are learning,” said Pillion, who has only three seniors on his roster, none of whom were in the top seven in Amarillo High’s rotation last season. “Playing JV basketball and everything else in the summer they can get away with bad habits on defense. I’m not worried about us when we’re hitting shots, but we’ve got to figure out how to win a game 39-38 when they’re not falling and you do that by rebounding and not turning over the basketball. We’re not there yet but we’re a lot further along than we were 10 days ago.”
Things are still looking up for Canyon after three quality wins before Wednesday. The Eagles appear to have taken a big step forward over three days.
“I’m very, very proud of our team,” Lovorn said. “The tournament was good of us. I told the guys I’m really pleased with the buy-in to how we’re playing. Between the four games we’ve played in this tournament with some really good teams and some good players with offensive skills, we’ve really had to game plan each game like it was the most important game of the season.”
Palo Duro has mixed results
A peek at the brackets prior to the tournament would likely led local fans to anticipate a showdown between Amarillo ISD and District 3-5A rivals Amarillo High and Palo Duro during Tuesday’s semifinals at Amarillo High, and that’s exactly what happened.
It was as competitive as the game was tied at 28-28 at halftime and Amarillo High led 39-37 at the end of the third quarter in a game where nobody led by double digits. The difference was that the Sandies hit four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and Richards had 10 points to help the Sandies attain a semicomfortable margin late.
The two teams will play two more times, only they’ll be in games which really count during district. Things will look a lot different then.
“You do approach it different,” PD coach Marquis Loftis said. “You’re playing a district opponent in a game outside of district so you don’t have time to prepare. You’ve just got kids out of football and they haven’t had practices and now you’re trying to battle a defending district champion.”
Cuda Clayton was the only Palo Duro player in double figures against the Sandies with 21 points.
The Dons also played another metro school to open the tournament Monday, crushing Randall 91-48. Clayton established himself as an offensive player to watch with a game-high 37 points while C.J. MItchell scored 19 and Zalen Nodine added 13.
Palo Duro reached the semis by beating Seagoville 78-66.
“It was a good battle against Seagoville and Amarillo High’s a good team,” Loftis said. “We’ve got to find ourselves and get accustomed to playing with each other.”
In the third place game, the Dons lost to Lubbock Trinity 73-62, dropping to 4-2 with their second straight loss after opening with three straight wins.
Amarillo National Bank Yellow City Classic
Monday’s First Round
Amarillo High 61, Dumas 56
Wichita Falls Memorial 49, Joshua 44
Palo Duro 91, Randall 48
Seagoville 68, Lubbock High 41
Tascosa 71, Perryton 47
Trinity Christian 59, Dallas Roosevelt 52
Krum 78, Caprock 52
Canyon 64, WT White 52
TUESDAY’S GAMES
Championship Quarterfinals
Amarillo High 54, Wichita Falls Memorial 27
Palo Duro 78, Seagoville 66
Trinity Christian 78, Tascosa 42
Canyon 60, Krum 58
Championship Semifinals
Amarillo High 58, Palo Duro 50
Canyon 50, Trinity Christian 48
Consolation Quarterfinals
Joshua 52, Dumas 39
Randall 67, Lubbock High 53|
Caprock 60, Perryton 48
WT White 50, Dallas Roosevelt 43
Consolation Semifinals
Joshua 59, Randall 36
WT White 62, Caprock 38
Guaranteed Games
Dallas Roosevelt 59, Perryton 32
Dumas 53, Lubbock High 50
WEDNESDAY’S GAMES
Championship Bracket championship
Amarillo High 47, Canyon 33
Third Place
Lubbock Trinity 73, Palo Duro 62
Guaranteed Games
Seagoville 67, Wichita Falls Memorial 49
Tascosa 71, Krum 51
Consolation Bracket Final
WT White 50, Joshua 39
Guaranteed Games
Caprock 57, Dumas 49
Lubbock High 51, Perryton 40