12/23/2005
By JASON CHLAPEK, Staff writer

PLANO - There's nothing like an early Christmas present.

Plano West boys basketball coach David Piehler was the recipient of one Wednesday when his Wolves hit 15-of-17 free throws and held a 26-21 rebound advantage in a 58-50 victory over Plano at the Wolves' Den in the District 8-5A opener for both teams.

While Piehler was pleased with the win, he was ecstatic about his teams' inside game.

"I was a little worried about our inside game since they (Plano) have more size," Piehler said. "But we were able to make up for it with intensity and effort on the boards. It was a great win."

Plano (8-6, 0-1 in District 8-5A) has four players on its roster taller than 6-foot-6 and Plano West (11-3, 1-0) has two. The Wildcats were missing Texas A&M signee Joseph Fulce, who will miss the Plano Wildcat Holiday Classic next week and may return Jan. 3 for district play following knee surgery. Piehler believes Plano would've been a different team with Fulce in the lineup.

"We knew if we were going to beat Plano we had our best chance to do so while Fulce was out," he said.

Both Plano and Plano West will take a break from district action when they participate in holiday tournaments. Plano hosts the Wildcat Classic Wednesday-Friday and Plano West competes in the Whataburger Tournament Tuesday-Thursday.

Plano coach Tom Inman felt like his team had their chances to win the game, but also said the Wildcats gave themselves too big of a hole to dig out of in the third period.

"It went from a four-point game to a 14-point difference early in the second half and it was an uphill battle from there," Inman said. "Of course, there were other little things like getting outrebounded that didn't help either. It would've been nice to get a win before the holidays."

An inability to counter scoring runs have hurt Plano before. Missed free throws Wednesday also hurt Plano.

The Wildcats were 9-of-17 from the charity stripe and Plano took its first loss to an unranked state opponent after losing its state ranking Monday.

From Craig Stanley's buzzer-beating jumper to end the first half to the first four minutes of the third period, Plano West turned a two-point game into a 14-point lead. During this run, Jerrald Bonham, Sterling Melville and Nick Robinson paced the Wolves. Bonham had 4 points from a pair of lay-ups following offensive rebounds, Melville hit a three-pointer and a pair of free throws and Robinson hit a jumper and a free throw to put their team up 41-27 with less than four minutes left in the third.

Plano West took their biggest lead of the game, 46-31, on a Robinson three-pointer with more than two minutes remaining in the third. But Plano pulled within 10 points, 46-36, at the end of the third period on a John Roberson three-pointer and a Rex Burkhead lay-up.

The 5-0 run by the Wildcats to end the third was the prelude to a 14-6 fourth period run that pulled them within two, 52-50, with 47 seconds left to play. Eric Zastoupil and Lawrence Mann had five and four points, respectively, during the spurt.

But Plano West put the game away in the final seconds as Melville went 4-of-4 and Stanley was 2-of-2 from the free throw line.

The Wolves established early momentum as they opened the game on an 11-2 run after Zastoupil scored on a lay-up. Melville had seven points during the run and ended the first period with nine. Zastoupil scored five more points and Tyler Roof had three during an 11-4 Plano run which tied the game, 15-15.

But John Maxwell's three-pointer at the buzzer gave Plano West an 18-15 lead going into the second.

Plano took the lead, 25-23, on a 10-5 run. Roberson had four points during the spurt.

But Bonham's three-point play gave Plano West the lead for good, 26-25, with less than two minutes before halftime. Jaren Jeffcoat scored his only points of the game on a three-pointer with less than a minute to play before Nathan Christian's jumper pulled Plano within two, 29-27. Then Stanley drove to the free throw circle where he hit a jumper as the clock ticked down on the first half to give the Wolves a 31-27 halftime lead.

Melville led all scorers with 20, while Robinson scored 15 and Bonham 11. Zastoupil led Plano with 14 points. Mann scored 11 for the Wildcats, while Roberson had 10.

"We were out to prove everyone wrong," Robinson said. "A lot of people picked us the underdog and that was all the motivation we needed. I think this will open everyone's eyes."

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