AUSTIN - While Thorndale entered the state basketball tournament on a high note, White Deer arrived with its best player sporting a broken hand.

 

With that backdrop, Thorndale had no trouble defending its Class 1A Division I crown - at least for a day - as the Bulldogs beat the Bucks, 60-36, before 6,866 fans Thursday morning at the Frank Erwin Center.

Thorndale (35-1), ranked No. 2, will play Dallardsville Big Sandy (27-10) in the UIL state championship Saturday morning.

Big Sandy upset No. 1 Graford, 44-40, in Thursday's first game.

The loss ended White Deer's season at 21-8. The Bucks were ranked No. 4.

With the exception of a brief appearance in the Region I title game against Roscoe, White Deer senior Cameron Swarb missed the team's playoff run with his injured hand. But that did not prevent him from playing Thursday. With a heavy bandage wrapped around his right (shooting) hand, Swarb was no threat on offense, attempting just two shots - both with his left hand.

"Shooting (with his right hand) was out of the question," Swarb said after playing in his final high school game.

Swarb went scoreless during 20 minutes on the floor.

Thorndale, by comparison, had no such shooting problems. Senior Brandon Irwin, the only starter who played on Thorndale's 2007 state championship team, scored 23 points. That included three 3-pointers in the first quarter that helped the Bulldogs race to a 20-9 lead.

Thorndale never was in danger of losing the lead, going up by as many as 31 points in the second half.

Thorndale, playing at the Frank Erwin Center for the third straight year, looked comfortable, shooting 55 percent from the floor (22-of-40). The Bulldogs got healthy contributions from guard Ryan Heine (11 points, five rebounds) and point guard Cody Schneider (six points, five assists, three rebounds).

"They're good," White Deer senior forward Parker Petty said. "We were hoping to catch them in an off game so we could show what we could do."

Petty led the Bucks with 17 points, but was only 6-of-20 from the field. Four of his baskets were 3s. Tyler Perryman added seven points for White Deer.

The Bucks finished 13-of-44 (29.5 percent) from the field and 6-of-21 (28.6 percent) behind the 3-point line as Thorndale used a tight zone defense.

Players and coaches from both teams said Thorndale's familiarity with the state tournament was a distinct advantage. White Deer was making its first appearance in Austin since 1962.

To help the Bucks get acclimated to the almost 17,000-seat arena, coach Warren Swarb had his team attend Wednesday night's Texas-Texas Tech women's basketball game. As for Thorndale, the Bulldogs were in the arena the past two years and also cheered for the school's girls team at the UIL state tournament last week.

"We knew we had a tough task, especially limping into the state playoffs," Warren Swarb said.

Heine opened the game with a 3-pointer and center Austin Llana followed with a layup. Thorndale led 36-15 at halftime.

"We thought it was important to get off to a good start," Thorndale guard Cody Schneider said.

White Deer 9 15 24 36

Thorndale 20 36 50 60

WHITE DEER (21-8): Parker Petty 6 1-2 17. Tyler Smith 0 2-4 2. Thomas Rapstine 2 1-2 5. Cragar Swarb 0 0-0 0. Tyler Perryman 3 0-0 7. Nathan Story 0 0-0 0; Jacob Rapstine 0 0-0 0. Jered Chamberlin 1 0-0 2. Benge Cameron 0 0-0 0. Mark Ruth 1 0-0 3. Casey McAnally 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 4-8 36.

THORNDALE (35-1): Chris Saunders 1 3-4 5. Austin Llana 1 2-6 4. Cody Schneider 2 1-4 6. Ryan Heine 4 2-3 11. Brandon Irwin 9 2-2 23. Paxton Jordan 0 0-0 0. Clay Schneider 0 0-0 0. Joe Salinas 0 0-0 0. J.C. Williams 3 0-0 7. Travis Stockton 0 0-0 0. Sederick Brooks 2 0-0 4. Caleb Saunders 0 0-0 0. Blake Doughty 0 0-0 0. Weston Fischer 0 0-0 0. Landon Falke 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 10-19 60.

3-point goals: White Deer 6 (Petty 4, Perryman, Ruth), Thorndale 6 (Irwin 3, Cody Schneider, Heine, Williams). Total Fouls: White Deer 14, Thorndale 12. Fouled Out: None. Technicals: None. Attendance: 6,866.

tournament in 46 years thanks to a gritty second-half performance Saturday before 550 fans at the Texan Dome.

 

Trailing by three points at halftime and having shot 23 percent from the field, the Bucks turned things around during the final 16 minutes to defeat Roscoe, 35-28, and capture the Region I-1A Division I championship.

A year earlier, the Bucks were stopped short of a trip to the state tournament in this round when they lost to New Deal.

"I remember the tremendous disappointment last year after we lost at this same point," said White Deer senior Parker Petty, who scored 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

"When this season began, our expectations were high to just get back to the regional tournament. We kind of expected it of ourselves. But we didn't want to feel that same disappointment again, and we don't."

Roscoe took a 15-12 halftime lead after White Deer was 4-of-17 from the field, including 2-of-10 from 3-point range. The Plowboys weren't much better, shooting 35 percent on 7-of-20, including 1-of-6 treys.

But when White Deer's Tyler Perryman knocked down a trey with only 14 seconds elapsed in the third quarter to tie the game, momentum seemed to change.

"Tyler's 3-pointer to begin the second half gave us a big lift," Petty said. "We didn't see the stats at halftime, but we all knew we didn't shoot well."

By the time the third quarter ended, the Bucks were in front 22-20, and when Thomas Rapstine converted a three-point play 19 seconds into the fourth period, they were in front 25-20.

Roscoe never regained the lead although the Plowboys closed within 25-24 with 5:35 to play and trailed 28-26 with 4:26 remaining.

Petty drained a short jumper with 4:05 to play to put White Deer on top 30-26, then hit one of two free throws with 2:29 remaining for a 31-26 advantage.

Neither team scored again until Perryman was fouled with 54 seconds to play and hit the front end of a one-and-one for a 32-26 lead.

Roscoe's final points came when freshman post Caden Smith stole an inbound pass and hit a layup with 33 seconds to go to pull Roscoe within 32-28.

Rapstine missed the front end of a one-and-one with 29 seconds to go, but the Bucks rebounded, and he was fouled with 17.5 seconds left. This time he hit the front end of the one-and-one for a five-point lead, 33-28.

The Bucks stole the inbound pass, and Petty hit a layup with 4.3 seconds to go.

"I can't describe how winning this really feels," White Deer head coach Warren Swarb said. "It will sink in sometime in the next few days. All I know right now is we get to go to Austin and play instead of going down just to watch.

"We knew the disappointment of losing at this game last year and we didn't want to do it again. The players made going to the state tournament their goal from the beginning of the season.

"It's not every team that can realize that goal, and we're glad we were able to do it."

White Deer 7 12 22 35

Roscoe 11 15 20 28

White Deer: Cragar Swarb 1 0-0 3, Tyler Perryman 3 1-2 10, Parker Petty 5 2-4 13, Thomas Rapstine 2 3-8 7, Tyler Smith 1 0-0 2, Cameron Swarb 0 0-0 0. Totals: 12 6-14 35.

Roscoe: Jared Villanueava 6 1-2 13, Jacob Villanueava 2 0-0 5, Carlos Perez 1 0-0 2, Albert Villa 0 0-0 0, Caden Smith 2 0-0 4, Gary Williams 2 0-0 4. Totals: 13 1-2 28.

3-pointers: White Deer 5 (Cragar Swarb 1, Perryman 3, Petty 1), Roscoe 1 (Jacob Villanueava 1). Total fouls: White Deer 7, Roscoe 15. Fouled out: Jared Villanueava. Technical foul: None.

LEVELLAND - For the second year in a row, White deer is a victory from the state tournament.

The Bucks put themselves in position to do that with a dominating first three quarters en route to a 49-36 victory against Smyer on Friday in the Region I-1A Division I semifinals before 600 fans at the Texan Dome.

White Deer will meet Roscoe at 3:30 p.m. today with the winner advancing to the state tournament.

The Bucks won this one thanks to a great first three quarters in which they shot better than 60 percent from the field in building a commanding 38-18 lead entering the final eight minutes.

Things got sloppy for White Deer down the stretch as it was outscored 18-11 in the final period and turned the ball over 10 times.

"We will have to play better against Roscoe than we did in the final quarter of this one," said White Deer head coach Warren Swarb.

"I wanted us to finish strong and we didn't. It's nice to win the game but you just want to play better.

"That last quarter was as poorly as we've played in a game in a few weeks. We had a hard time getting the ball past mid-court and when we did it seemed like we threw it away."

Smyer scored only three points in the first quarter, shooting 2-of-13 from the field. The Bobcats scored 13 points in the second period but were only 4-of-13 and went to the dressing room at the break 6-of-26 from the field for 23 percent and trailing by 13 points, 28-15.

In the third period, the Bobcats again went ice cold, going 1-of-8 as the Bucks built a 38-18 lead.

White Deer shot 61 percent from the field in the first half on 11-of-18 and for the game was 19-of-32 for 59 percent.

Thomas Rapstine led the Bucks with 15 points while Cragar Swarb had 12. Parker Petty added 10 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.

White Deer 13 28 38 49

Smyer 3 15 18 36

WHITE DEER (20-7): Cragar Swarb 4 2-4 12, Tyler Perryman 1 1-1 3, Parker Petty 4 2-3 10, Thomas Rapstine 6 3-4 15, Tyler Smith 3 1-2 7, Nathan Story 1 0-2 2. Totals: 19 9-16 49.

SMYER (18-14): Brent Robertson 4 2-3 10, Cole Kerns 5 3-7 15, Chase Taylor 2 2-2 7, Jacob See 0 0-0 0, Dustin Nelson 1 0-0 2, Uriel Roman 0 0-2 0. Totals: 13 7-14 36.

3-pointers: White Deer 2 (Swarb 2) Total fouls: White Deer 18, Smyer 15. Fouled out: Petty. Technical foul: None. Attendance: 600.

White Deer romps past Smyer at Region I-1A

Saturday, March 01, 2008
Story last updated at 3/1/2008 - 2:42 am

LEVELLAND - Smyer scored first against White Deer in the Bobcats' Region I-1A, Division I semifinal Friday night.

However, the Bucks responded with a 13-1 run and went on from there to beat the Bobcats, 49-36, at the Texan Dome.

White Deer (20-7) will play Roscoe, a 47-32 winner over Wellington, for the Region I-1A championship today at 3:30 p.m.

Last season, White Deer lost to New Deal in the Region I-1A, Divison I final.

In the other semifinals at the Texan Dome, Lorenzo advanced to face Paducah in the Division II finals. The Hornets knocked off Happy, 48-45, while the Dragons eliminated Adrian, 80-48.

The Division II final will feature a pair of teams that won their district as Lorenzo (26-6) captured the District 6 title, while Paducah (22-5) won the District 5 title.

Brent Robertson opened the scoring for Smyer with a basket at the 6:51 mark of the first quarter. The Bobcats (18-14) wouldn't score another basket until just before the buzzer to end the first period, when Dustin Nelson connected to cut White Deer's lead to 13-5.

Between those two baskets, the Bucks got two baskets from Thomas Rapstine, a three-point play from Tyler Perryman and baskets from Cragar Swarb, Tyler Smith and Parker Petty.

Smyer shot 2 of 12 in the first quarter.

"My hats off to (White Deer's) defense," Smyer head coach Ryan Dykes said. "Offensively, we didn't hit some shots early, so the momentum never got swung our way."

The Bucks, meanwhile, only missed three shots in the opening period, finishing 6 of 9 from the field.

"They shot the ball well in the first half," Dykes said. "They worked their sets, they did a good job of executing and they did a good job of knocking down the shots."

Cole Kerns led Smyer with 15 points. Robertson joined him in double figures with 10.

Rapstine led White Deer with 15 points. Swarb had 12 and Petty 10.

Although Smyer's season is over, Dykes said he was pleased with the year.

"This season was magical," Dykes said. "It was a Cinderella story. We weren't picked to get out of district and we made the regional tournament."

White Deer's goal from the beginning of this season has been to reach the Class 1A Division I state tournament in Austin.

A year ago, the Bucks fell a game short of doing that when they lost in the championship game of the regional tournament.

While the Bucks are making their second straight regional tournament appearance, Wellington is making its first trip to this event in nine years.

Ironically, the last time the Skyrockets reached the regional tournament it was under current head coach Tim Webb.

Webb left after that season for Canyon, where he coached the Eagles for seven years. He returned to Wellington two years ago as the school's principal, but became the boys basketball coach when Ty Stovall departed late in the summer.

In his first year back, the Skyrockets captured the District 8-1A title, and after an opening bye in the playoffs defeated Gruver (47-45) and Clarendon (53-40) to reach the regional.

"Gruver beat us by 12 points and Clarendon by 30 earlier in the season," Webb said. "We just did get by Gruver and then caught Clarendon at a great time. Our players wanted to play them again after getting beat that badly earlier in the season.

"We have been playing better as a team late in the season, and that's the biggest difference. We still have our problems but we have improved and that's the key at this time of the year.

"We played well in our final district game against Quanah and have carried it into the playoffs."

Webb said senior Sawyer Sims and sophomore A.J. Johnson are averaging more than 12 points to lead the team. Beyond that it's been a solid team effort from a squad that includes seven seniors.

White Deer head coach Warren Swarb said his club has battled through injuries to key players to get this far. The Bucks, after an opening bye, have defeated Vega (53-39) and Sudan (55-45) to get this far.

In the playoffs they have been without leading scorer Cameron Swarb, who broke a bone in his little finger of his right hand during practice more than a week ago.

Parker Petty missed five games after suffering a shoulder separation in a tournament around Christmas.

"We have been able to win our last two games without Cameron in the lineup," Warren Swarb said.

"We have some good players and they've adjusted. We are a better team with him out there but if he doesn't play we still have great motivation to reach Austin."

The White Deer coach said he hopes this year's team will be able to draw on last year's experience at the regional tournament. The Bucks defeated Crosbyton on a last-second 3-pointer by Petty before losing to New Deal by 13 points in the final.

"We know after last year it takes two solid games to get out of regional," he said. "After winning the semifinal game we didn't play all that well the next day and got beat.

"At this point, all four teams that get to the regional tournament are good enough to win it. The team that executes what it does best generally goes to Austin the following week.

"I think we have a chance, but so do the other three teams."