The Texline Tornadoes are as hot as any team in the state and it showed during an 81-53 thumping of Whitharral in the Region I-1A semifinals on Friday afternoon at the Texan Dome in Levelland.
The No. 4-ranked Tornadoes picked up where they left off all postseason using their defense to produce offense quickly grabbing an 18-8 lead to command the first quarter.
The rest of the game was much of the same. Texline build a 43-24 advantage at half and were up a blistering 63-33 by the end of the third quarter.
Swingman Hayden Drumm couldn’t be stopped pouring in a game-high 30 points behind an eye-opening eight 3-pointers. Teammate Hayden Alston tallied 17 to complement Drumm’s effort.
Texline (31-5) advances to the regional final to face No. 2 Jayton (35-3) at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
The Jaybirds survived a valiant late fourth quarter rally from Wildorado but were able to survive for a 65-62 victory in the other semifinal on Friday afternoon.
Jayton built a 29-17 lead by halftime and led 46-25 after three. The Mustangs caught fire in the fourth with Logan Mason and Hunter Corman combining for 34 points in the final frame hitting eight 3-balls, but time ran out on the Mustangs comeback.
Mason led Wildorado with 26 points with all of Corman’s 19 coming in the final eight minutes. Jayton’s Colt Gentry poured in a game-high 33 points.