Thursday, January 30, 2007
By Kevin Hageland, Staff Writer / Plano Star

PLANO - Although Plano (6-4) head coach Tom Inman didn’t specifically say he asked for a win over Berkner (8-2) for his birthday, he will celebrate his 44th today knowing that his team gave him an early gift courtesy of a 73-52 victory over the Rams.

The Wildcats used a big run at the start of the fourth quarter to not only secure a victory over first-place Berkner, but also to capture a further grip on a playoff spot in District 9-5A.

“This win is huge for us,” Inman said. “This sends a message to the rest of the district that we are very good; not always the most consistent team, but we are very good.”

Plano fell behind early, 7-6, but went on a quick 10-1 run to take an eight-point lead. The story in the first quarter, and much of the game for that matter, was senior Adam Chisholm, who grabbed five rebounds in the first quarter alone as the Wildcats built up a 16-11 lead.

That advantage would have been eight points, but Berkner’s Maxx Nakwaash drained a three-pointer at the buzzer. That would not be Nakwaash’s only buzzer beater in this game.

The game was being called tight throughout the night, which forced Berkner, in particular, into some early foul trouble. The Rams Xavier Perkins was called for his third foul just two minutes into the second quarter.

A subsequent mid-range jumper and three by junior Reggie Britton on back-to-back Wildcat possessions allowed Plano to build up a 25-14 advantage.

“I’ve told our guys all season that we need to establish third and fourth scoring options,” Inman said. “Reggie and Adam’s play tonight was exactly what I was looking for.”

But just as quickly as Plano had built up its largest cushion of the evening, the Rams came charging right back with a 9-2 run that pulled Berkner to within 27-23.

And just as it appeared the Rams were back in the game, Plano responded with an 8-3 spurt to close out the half. Senior John Roberson, who had 16 points, got the run started after a steal and pull-up jumper with 1:38 left in the half. That run put the Wildcats up, 35-26, heading into the locker room.

Plano missed several open looks to start the third quarter as Berkner scored six of the first eight points. Not to be outdone though, Plano fired back with six straight points of its own to rebuild an 11-point lead. The Wildcats were able to take control by dominating the boards. Chisholm, who also had 16 points, grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds on the night.

“I know I had a rough start to the season, but my coaches stayed confident in me and kept telling me to forget about my past mistakes,” Chisholm said. “This is my best game of the year and I think if we keep playing like this, there is no limit to how far we can go.”

Chisholm, who seemed to be involved in every battle for a board, said his only thoughts at those moments were, “Just get the ball.”

Plano remained ahead by 11 points when Britton popped in a three with five seconds remaining in the third quarter. However, Berkner recaptured some momentum when Nakwaash ran down the court and drilled a shot from half court, at the buzzer, to cut the Rams’ deficit back down to eight.

That momentum was quickly dashed though, as Britton, who had a team-high 19 points, scored the first four points of the final quarter to put Plano up by 12 and force Berkner to call a timeout.

The Rams got a quick bucket coming out of the timeout, before Plano reeled off eight straight points to put the game away. The exclamation point on the run came when Roberson dished the ball to senior Greg Harrell for a monster dunk, with 3:35 left in the game, putting the Wildcats up, 64-46.

The two teams traded buckets and free throws the rest of the way as Plano was triumphant, 73-52.

“Our team has stepped up when it matters most,” Inman said. “Our goal at this point is just to get into the playoffs; and then, you never know what could happen.”