Plano's thrilling win over East should help produce
some late-season drama

12:48 AM CST on Thursday, January 20, 2005
By MATT WIXON / The Dallas Morning News

PLANO – The traditional horns and drums were missing from Tuesday night's rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Plano's gym. There was no vocalist crooning "... and the home of the brave," either.

There was just a lone electric guitar, squealing out the national anthem a la Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock.

It ruffled a few traditionalists, I'm sure. But after watching the game that followed, the rock 'n' roll opening act seemed appropriate.

Plano and Plano East, the top two boys teams in District 8-5A, battled for 90 minutes in an electric game with six ties and nine lead changes. The biggest margin of the night was reflected in the final score: Plano 66, Plano East 59.

"It all swung on a couple of possessions," Plano coach Tom Inman said.

And so did the Wildcats' hopes for a District 8-5A title. Their realistic hopes, anyway, because a loss would've dropped Plano (18-4, 5-1) two games behind Plano East (19-5, 5-1).

"If I could think of a better adjective than 'huge,' I would use it," Inman said.

Inman rarely has a hard time coming up with words of any kind, so huge must be the best description. Huge is also a good way to describe the challenge Plano East can present to opponents with its two star guards – Dallas Hunter and Anthony Smith.

Hunter is a strong-bodied, 6-5 point guard with a nice mid-range jump shot. Anthony Smith is a 6-4 high-flyer who had two slam dunks Tuesday night, one an alley-oop that cut Plano's lead to 40-38 midway through the third quarter.

Together, the two stars usually score more than half the team's points. But against Plano, it was center Chris Littell who kept the Panthers in the game. The senior, who had made five 3-pointers this season before Tuesday, sank four of them against Plano. Three of them came in a three-minute span of the fourth quarter, forcing the Wildcats to make big shots down the stretch.

Plano made the big shots, but it wasn't the player who most would expect. Joseph Fulce, the 6-6 junior forward who averages close to 18 points per game, only scored 10.

Plano was led by Mark Foster, who scored eight of his 15 points in the fourth quarter. Four players scored in double figures for the Wildcats, a balance that caught Inman's eye after the game.

"If a guy who averages 18 points goes for 10, a lot of times you take the loss," Inman said. "But not for us. It's not just Joseph and the musketeers out there. He's got some good players around him."

Good players are all around Collin County this year, especially in 8-5A. That's why, as the district race reaches its midpoint, the county line appears to separate the contenders from the pretenders. The playoff hopefuls are Plano, Plano East, Plano West and Allen.

That means there will be a lot of good games to watch over the next few weeks, including this Tuesday, when Plano East plays at Allen, and Plano plays at Plano West – which beat Allen in overtime two days ago.

And the scripting of this drama couldn't be more perfect. On the final night of the regular season Feb. 15, Plano West plays at Allen, and Plano East gets another shot at Plano.

This time it will be on the Panthers' home court.

"Something has to be on the line at that game," Inman said. "I don't think we're both going to go in the dumper."