February 28, 2007

By DAMON L. SAYLES / The Dallas Morning News

ALLEN - Whatever the sport, Richardson Berkner prides itself on its team identity – outworking its opponent.

It made the difference in a 65-60 victory over District 9-5A rival Plano in a Class 5A Region II quarterfinal Tuesday night in Allen.

Berkner jumped on Plano to start both halves, and then willed itself to close out the game. Even an ill-timed technical foul and a few ill-advised shots in the fourth quarter didn't prevent Berkner from its third consecutive trip to the regional tournament.

"This team has so much heart," said team leader Justin Johnson, who scored a team-best 16 points.

It wasn't a masterpiece. Berkner (23-9) seemed to be in control, leading 50-39 with 4:11 left when the game almost slipped away. Berkner's best post player, senior Adrian Campbell, picked up his fourth foul and subsequently got a technical to foul out of the game.

Plano (26-8), the defending state champion, went on a 10-1 run in 41 seconds to cut the lead to 51-49. All of the points were scored by senior point guard John Roberson, who missed most of the third quarter with four fouls. Roberson scored 18 of his game-high 26 points in the final quarter.

Berkner again seemed in control at 59-54 with 1:48 left in the game. But with Plano coach Tom Inman yelling for his team to foul Johnson, his players didn't get to the Berkner guard, only to have him bail Plano out by missing a close-in shot.

Plano's Landon Skinner drove the length of the floor, scored, drew a foul and made the free throw to make it a two-point game with 1:11 left.

Berkner held on, getting clutch free throws from Johnson and Ben Brown and a key offensive rebound by Ryan Offer to seal the victory. Skinner missed a free throw with 38 seconds left that would have tied the score at 60.

"We expected them to make a run," Berkner coach Rod Wright said. "But our guys work hard and get after it. They don't know any other way to play the game."

Berkner led 29-24 at halftime and then took advantage of two fouls to Roberson early in the third quarter, sending Plano's best player and leader to the bench.