Written by Asher Feltman
The Plano West Wolves men’s varsity basketball team entered Tuesday’s much-hyped rematch with the Flower Mound Marcus Marauders holding an impressive 6-1 district record. Even more impressive was Marcus’ 7-0 district record and their number 1 state rank. West entered the game only four spots behind at number 5.
Last season’s matchup between these two teams drew national attention, even earning a front page spot on Yahoo! The Plano Star ranked that game as one of the top Plano sports stories of 2011.
In case you missed it, last January on the road Wolves’ Head Coach Anthony Morgan took a rather different strategy to overcome the Marauders. Coach Morgan instructed his team to run clock, hold the ball, and choose their shots wisely to drastically slow the pace of Marcus’ up-tempo offense. Marcus eventually prevailed by an anemic 38-31 score in triple overtime, but the statement had been made.
Fast forward a year and Flower Mound Marcus makes the trip to rowdy Plano West for a rematch with the team that almost brought them down in unique style.
This time around, Marcus, led by nationally recognized senior forward and future Oklahoma State Cowboy Marcus Smart, did not mess around. Smart began the game with a crowd silencing slam, but just like the fans packing a sold out stadium, the team proved to be resilient. Strong guard play and a beautiful 3-pointer from senior Brett Williams left the Wolves with a 12-10 lead after the first quarter. Then the Marauders put their foot down.
Marcus opened the second quarter with 11 unanswered points, to open a 21-12 lead. Over the next two quarters, the Wolves were outscored 35-17 as Marcus jumped to a comfortable lead entering the 4th quarter. Marcus’ strength and size inside proved too much for Plano West, who was outrebounded 37-13. But the outside shooting of Marcus senior guard Phil Forte kept the West defense honest with four 3-pointers and a game high 22 points. Forte will join Smart at Oklahoma State next season.
Senior T.J. Cline has been leading the team all season with his magic touch from beyond the arc and his uncanny intelligence on the court, resulting in being the team’s leader in points as well as rebounds. A stingy Marauders defense limited the 6’8” forward to just seven points. Sophomore Jackson Forbes looks to be the future of the Wolfpack basketball team and lead the team with nine points. Last Friday Forbes ignited a Wolves rally (with a corner 3) and contributed nine timely points in an exciting overtime win over rival Plano East.
However, Tuesday night was simply one to forget for the Wolves. Senior captains Holt Harmon (eight points) and Kendall Britton (four 1st quarter points) could not find any sort of groove all evening and Flower Mound Marcus took advantage.
The combined efforts of the standout Marcus Smart, who cashed in 14 points, five rebounds, and seven assists, as well as Banyard, who snagged 10 rebounds while adding 14 points of his own, proved to be too much on the night. Senior guard A.J. Luckey (seven points, seven rebounds) was key in the Marauders 15-3 3rd quarter run which saw the Marcus lead balloon to 42-21. A timeout from Coach Morgan allowed the noisy section of Marcus students to yell and chant at the noisy two sections of Plano West students, who remained energetic despite the featured presentation.
Not going down easy, the Wolves made a little run to begin the 4th quarter. Brett Williams drew an offensive foul on Marcus senior forward Nick Banyard, halting a fast break, two easy points, and potentially swinging the momentum of the game. (Banyard is 6’8”; Williams is 5’10”)
Marcus stood their ground and cruised to an imposing 63-42 road victory. But the stars of the night were the vibrant youngsters who lit up the crowd in an attention-grabbing jump rope performance, delivering a Mavericks game worthy halftime show…vs. the Kings…on a Tuesday. (Still good)
Before the night was over, Wolves’ junior guard Tim Okposin provided the crowd with a little non-basketball related excitement. Okposin threw a punch at Marcus Smart and was promptly ejected.
“You can see it on video,” Coach Morgan said. “There was a hit by Smart and then a retaliation by our player who was ejected. We don’t condone that behavior and we’ll have a conversation with (Okposin) to make sure this doesn’t happen again in the future.”
Plano West continues their 2011-2012 campaign with a home game Friday night at 7:30 vs. the Allen Eagles.
