Saturday, January 13, 2007 12:10 AM CST
By Cory J. Mageors, Staff Writer / Plano Star

PLANO - The lightning that struck across the Texas sky Friday night held nothing in comparison to the electricity inside the Plano gym. Plano (3-2) hosted Plano West (3-2) in a matchup that would change the face of District 9-5A.

West hoped to gain sole possession of first place in the district with a victory. Plano, however, had different plans in mind, as they thrust themselves back into the playoff picture with an 84-68 victory over the Wolves.

“I think we certainly gained our swagger back tonight,” said Tom Inman, Plano head coach. “This is huge for us as far as the district picture is concerned. I couldn’t be happier with the way these guys played tonight; they really showed that they can handle the pressure of a big game.”

Plano senior point guard John Roberson poured in 36 points while West seniors John Maxwell and Sterling Melville combined for 50 points, in what was a highly anticipated game by both teams.

As each side of the gym chanted back and forth, the court became the main focus when the tip-off started the game.

Plano went on their first break of the game as Roberson found senior Greg Harrell under the basket with a quick underhand pass. West Junior Wilson Neely swatted Harrell’s shot and West headed down the court.

After Plano senior Raahul Ramakrishnan swatted senior Ross Self’s inbound pass, John Maxwell broke lose and nailed a three-pointer to open the scoring up for West.

Plano sophomore Rex Burkhead started the scoring for the Wildcats, hitting a six-footer in the paint. Self came back and hit an open jumper to give West a three-point lead at 5-2.

Then Roberson crossed over on Maxwell and tossed in a three pointer to tie it up.

West found Melville down low for two points, and Plano senior Landon Skinner tied it up at 7-7 with a lay-up.

Roberson gave Plano their first lead of the night after popping a three, then grabbed a steal and dished to Skinner who was fouled. After making one free throw, Plano led 11-7.

West began to rotate players, inserting freshman Jackson Jeffcoat and senior Mealad Tarighi for a presence in the post and on the perimeter.

Melville laid out for a long rebound and passed forward to Maxwell from his stomach. Maxwell then took advantage of the open shooting lane and put in a three.

However, Roberson answered right back with a three-pointer of his own. Down 14-10, Jeffcoat picked up two free throws, but was unable to convert them.

Late in the first quarter, West began forcing shots from the perimeter and missed multiple lay-ups in the paint.

Maxwell lost an inbound pass, which junior Reggie Britton stole and sent to fellow-junior Kenny Watkins, who missed the open lay-up. But, Roberson grabbed the rebound and nailed the jumper giving Plano an eight point advantage, at 20-12, as the first quarter closed out.

West started off the second quarter with a Melville dish to Jeffcoat who made the reverse lay-in and picked up a free-throw to bring West within five. But Burkhead settled beyond the arc and nailed a three-pointer in response.

Melville brought West within four, nailing two free-throws and nabbing a steal in which he went coast-to-coast for the score.

After a two-minute scoring slump, Roberson hit a three-pointer to put Plano up 23-19. Harrell missed two from the charity stripe, but Plano grabbed the rebound and dished to Roberson who put in his fifth three-pointer of the half from straight away.

Down 29-19, West called a timeout to calm down and instantly went to senior Kevin Tietz who put in the three from the left corner.

With 1:30 left in the quarter, Roberson drove to the basket and drew a triple team allowing him to find Ramakrishnan cutting under the backboard for two points, giving Plano 33-23 lead heading into the half.

“At halftime, I told them we have to play our game,” said Anthony Morgan, West head coach. “We didn’t do a very good job of keeping people in front of us and keeping them contained defensively. If you are going to play at this level, it’s a simple game. Keep the guy in front of you and force an unbalanced shot, and we just weren’t doing that.”

Plano however felt the vibe, as they came out in the second half and extended their lead to 13 when Burkhead drove to the lane making the lay-up and picking up free-throw. Melville grabbed an inbound pass from the baseline and Maxwell clapped his hands begging for the open look.

Melville reacted and Maxwell launched a three. As he got the open shot off, Skinner fouled the senior and the ball fell through the net, opening up an opportunity for a four-point play. Maxwell converted the free-throw and brought the Wolves within seven, but that was as close as they would get for the remainder of the night.

Roberson nailed a three pointer with 4:04 left in the third and gave Plano a 44-36 advantage. Then the Wildcats took over, controlling the clock with Roberson, Britton and Skinner, and controlling the defensive boards with Ramakrishnan and Harrell. Roberson nailed a three as the final seconds ticked off in the third quarter, and Inman knew his team was on their way to a big victory.

“This was a big statement game for us,” Inman said. “It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out that the Wildcats have been sputtering a little. Once we get a lead on people, it’s hard to guard us. We expected a surge early, we knew they wouldn’t come in and lay an egg. I told the guys though that if we could make it through the first and second surge, we would be fine.”

Plano will hit the road to face Plano East Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., while West will face host Wylie Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

As for West’s emotions right now, Morgan feels that his team will be able to pick themselves up and learn from a loss to the reigning state champions.

“We had to get away a little bit from what we normally do because of the way Roberson handled the ball,” Morgan said. “It was definitely a learning experience. It was our goal to get two wins on the road, but they were fighting for their playoff lives and they knew they couldn’t go down three because if you go down three in this district, it’s real tough to come back.”

With five district games under their belt, both teams look forward now to staying atop the 9-5A district and providing another exciting game Feb. 6.