They call the Leslie Broadhurst Gymnasium at Randall High School “The House of Doom” and it was exactly that for Idalou’s offense Monday night.
Canadian’s defense made life difficult for all four quarter in this battle of the Wildcats, as Canadian took a 43-27 victory to win the UIL Class 3A Division II bi-district championship.
With the win, Canadian (18-7) will move on to the regional quarterfinal to take on Lamesa (27-4) at 6 p.m. Friday, back at the Leslie Broadhurst Gym at Randall High School.
The rest of this story is only for subscribers.
“It’s always a big deal to win a gold ball,” Canadian head coach Brandon Wall said. “Winning is very difficult, and I thought we executed our game-plan very well. We made it difficult for Idalou to score and we pressured them the entire way. This was a big win for us, and we had great play from our veteran guys.”
Canadian raced out to a 13-4 lead in the first quarter behind Riggs Pennington, who scored eight of his game-high 14 points in the first quarter.
However, Idalou closed the quarter strong to get within 13-8 as Bryson Estes poured in six of the Wildcats point. Unfortunately for the team out of District 2-3A, that’s as close as they would get the rest of the way.
The second quarter flew by as neither team called a time out while Canadian built on its lead and went to the break, up 25-15, as Junior Cervantes chipped in five of his 12 points in that quarter.
Defense was the difference in the third quarter for Canadian. After both teams started slowly, Brooks Wall drilled a 3-pointer from the right wing and stole the ball after the inbounds pass. The lefty point guard then found Cervantes on the opposite wing and the undersized guard knocked down a three as well to give the Wildcats a 31-15 lead three minutes into the quarter.
“Jett Cervantes did a really good job of forcing tough shots,” Wall said. “I thought Riggs (Pennington) and Gunner Brady did a great job inside with their size. That size gave Idalou fits all night. Riggs and Junior (Cervantes) also stepped up on offense. Junior isn’t a big scorer, but he stepped up in this one.”
Because of Jett Cervantes’ defense, Estes was held to only eight points.
Idalou tried to climb back into this one, cutting the lead to 32-20 before Canadian shut the door. Gunner Brady grabbed a rebound and scored from the left side to go up 34-20. Wall then started a fast break after an Idalou turnover and finished it off with an alley-oop to Pennington which the 6-foot-6 senior kissed off the glass to build the lead out to 36-20 and dash any chances Idalou had of making a late comeback.
Idalou finished the season with an 18-13 record.