01/22/2006
By JASON CHLAPEK, Staff writer

PLANO - It's been a month since the Plano West boys basketball team beat Plano, 58-50, in the District 8-5A opener.

The Wolves will go for the sweep when they visit the Wildcats at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Plano Activity Center gymnasium.

"Tuesday's game is huge," Plano coach Tom Inman said. "Not only did we lose the first time, we're also at home this time. We need to win our home games."

Plano's loss Dec. 21 seemed to provide fuel for the Wildcats' fire. Plano (16-7, 6-1 in 8-5A) leads the district and is on a six-game winning streak. Plano West (16-7, 5-2) is alone in second place.

A Plano win gives it a two-game lead, while a Plano West win puts the teams in a first place tie and gives the Wolves a head-to-head tiebreaker.

"It'd be nice to go over there (Plano) and win," Plano West coach David Piehler said. "But even if we do, we still have six district games left. There's still a tight race going on in our district."

Plano West was able to rally past Flower Mound Marcus, 56-47, Friday. The Wolves outscored the Marauders, 22-10, in the fourth period after trailing 37-34 at the end of the third.

Craig Stanley led the way for Plano West with 22 points, but the Wolves also got a boost from Sterling Melville, who played in his first game since Jan. 6.

Melville, who suffered a sprained knee in a 46-44 loss to Flower Mound Jan. 6, scored seven points in his first game back from injury. He was the leading rebounder for Plano West prior to the injury.

"Sterling gave us more size up front," Piehler said. "Our rebounding improved with him back in the lineup. He'll get better as he spends more time on the court."

The Wolves also survived a 23-point performance by Marcus' Clinton Houston, who was in his second game back after injury.

Plano may get Joseph Fulce on the court for the first time in district play Tuesday. The forward participated in pregame warm-ups Friday, but did not play because of precautionary reasons. Fulce has missed more than a month because of knee surgery and is questionable Tuesday.

The Wildcats jumped on The Colony early as they led 20-9 at the end of the first period and 34-17 at halftime. The Cougars came to life with three-point shooting in the second half, but Plano hung on for the victory.

"Their second half shooting got them back in the game," Inman said. "We also played a little flat in the second half, but I'm just happy to get the win."

John Roberson scored a game-high 27 points and Eric Zastoupil scored 10.