Undefeated Panthers controls the game’s tempo in 4th quarter to prevent Tiger comeback

By Michael Adams
madams@onthesidelinessports.com

SAN ANTONIO — Stony Point’s fast-break offense – and state championship hopes – ran into a brick wall.

Plano East (40-0) controlled the tempo in the fourth quarter to prevent Stony Point from making a late run and defeated the Tigers 53-41 in Saturday’s Class 6A state championship game.

Saturday’s loss at the Alamodome in San Antonio was Stony Point’s second of the season. Both losses by the Tigers (38-2) were to Plano East, which defeated Stony Point in a tournament in December.

“There were numerous things we could have done better,” said Stony Point head coach Antoine Thompson. “Our only two losses came to the state champion, for a group of guys that’s never been here and a program that’s building, this is something that’s going to fuel me and this program.”

• See more photos from Saturday’s Class 6A championship game

Josiah Moseley, playing in his final game in a Stony Point uniform, scored a game-high 18 points for the Stony Point while going 8-of-17 from field-goal range.

However, Piano East’s aggressive defense took away Moseley’s support that’s been there all season.

Senior guard Uzziah Buntyn, who scored 19 points in Friday’s semifinal win over Beaumont United was held to four points by the Panthers’ defense. All four of Buntyn’s points came in the second half.

Senior guard Junior Goodlet scored eight points, but only two in the second half, while Alan Guyton Jr. only had a three-pointer in the second quarter.

“We could have played a little faster,” said Stony Point senior Josiah Moseley. “We shouldn’t have allowed them to control the tempo. We knew what we were getting into. We played them before, so we knew what they were going to do.”

Plano East was led by the game’s MVP DJ Hall, who scored 18 points to go with six rebounds. Rachard Angton added 13 points and Jordan Mizell scored six for the Panthers.

With Saturday’s championship win, Plano East became the first undefeated champion in the UIL’s top classification since 2007 when Duncanville accomplished the same feat.

Stony Point never held a lead in the game and trailed by five points at halftime.

The Panthers slowly extended their lead in the second half with small runs here and there, eventually pulling away in the fourth quarter.

“We’ll be back,” Thompson said. “We only had three seniors, so we got a lot of guys coming back next year. It starts next week when we get back with the offseason.”

Box score

Plano East 53, Stony point 41	1	2	3	4
Stony Point	11	13	11	6
Plano East	15	14	12	12