Despite loss to Plano East, Wildcats still reach postseason

01:47 AM CST on Wednesday, February 16, 2005
From Staff Reports to The Dallas Morning News

PLANO – Dallas Hunter sparked Plano East in the fourth quarter as the District 8-5A champion finished the regular season with a 52-47 victory over Plano on Tuesday at Plano East.

By virtue of Plano West's victory over Allen, Plano (22-8, 9-5) qualified for the playoffs as the third seed from the district and will play Arlington Bowie in bi-district next week. Plano East (27-5, 13-1) has a bi-district bye.

With three fouls, Hunter did not play in the third quarter. He returned in the fourth and scored 10 of his 16 points.

Plano went on a 13-0 run to take a 41-37 lead before the Panthers answered with an 8-1 run. Hunter's jumper with 3:13 to play gave Plano East a 45-42 lead.

Hunter hit two free throws with 33 seconds remaining to increase the lead to 51-45. Plano missed a 3-pointer with six seconds remaining and the Panthers ran out the final seconds.

Anthony Smith of Plano East scored 16 points and teammate Cameron Meek scored 13. Eric Zastoupil led Plano with 16 points.