Hurricanes bury Hidalgo after halftime in semifinal

Defense continues to propel Sam Houston.

Through their first four postseason games, the young Hurricanes have held opponents to 49.8 points per outing. Friday in the Class 3A Region IV semifinals at American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Sam Houston (26-9) forced 26 turnovers in a 63-42 win over Hidalgo (30-9).

The victory advanced Sam Houston, No. 6 in the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches state poll, to the finals for the second year in a row. The Hurricanes will play Corpus Christi West Oso (23-5), which registered a mild upset by defeating No. 24 Wharton 57-51 in the other semifinal Friday.

Sam Houston will play West Oso at noon at the American Bank Center. The winner will advance to the Class 3A state tournament next week in Austin.

The Bears eliminated the Hurricanes in the semifinals in 2011 and 2012.

“In three years, we haven’t made it out of there,” Sam Houston coach Ike Thornton said after the Hurricanes’ regional quarterfinal win. “That’s one of our main goals: To get out of Corpus unbeaten.

“We’ll take it one game at a time. I don’t think we’ll have some of the distractions we’ve had in the past. I believe in these kids.”

Defense clearly is a strength for Sam Houston, but it also was an area it was looking to shore up during this weekend.

“We’ve got to get better on help defense if we’re going to get through,” Thornton said. “We’re giving up too much in the paint.”

Although Sam Houston led Hidalgo 16-4 at one point in the first quarter, the Pirates were within 21-17 at halftime.

The Hurricanes scored 11 points in the first two minutes of the second half, knocking down three 3-point baskets during the spurt. Eventually, they scored 15 of the first 17 points in the half to open a 17-point advantage.

By the end of the third-quarter, Sam Houston led 49-27. The Hurricanes scored 28 points in the eight-minute span, while limiting Hidalgo to 10.

The Pirates closed to 55-40 with 4:57 remaining, but the Hurricanes rallied again. Sam Houston finished the game on an 8-2 run.

Hidalgo made the game close at the half after Sam Houston endured a scoring drought of more than six minutes. The Hurricanes mustered just five points in the second quarter.

Guard Jordon Harris, one of just two seniors in the Hurricanes’ playing rotation and the only senior starter, led Sam Houston with 22 points. Sophomore wing Robert Christian produced 18 points. Devin Allen chipped in 11 points. Raymonte Prime contributed eight.

Harris said one of the things he’s tried to instill in the younger players is a sense of what it takes to survive in the postseason.

“This year, the guys are more disciplined than in the past,” the senior guard said. “They actually listen to what you tell them and want to get better.”

Frankie Sanchez led Hidalgo with 21 points.

Sam Houston has qualified for state five times in its storied basketball history, most recently in 2005.

“It helps us a lot,” Allen said of the Hurricanes’ playoff experience. “Last year was tough, because we lost (in the finals). But that’s in the past. We’re focused on right now. We’re trying to learn from that, and play better.

“We’ve put in the extra work. Now, we know we can do it.”

Sam Houston 66, Fredericksburg 50

The Hurricanes faced Fredericksburg (28-9) in regional semifinals for the second-consecutive year. So, they knew exactly what to expect Tuesday at Smithson Valley, including the pitfalls to avoid.

“We didn’t want to take anything lightly,” said Harris, who led Sam Houston with 22 points, seven assists and six rebounds.

“We didn’t want to let them come back. They’re a good shooting team and they’re really tough. Nobody can shoot the ball like them. They can all shoot the three.”

The Battlin’ Billies responded with a 16-1 run fueled by three-point shooting that finished the third quarter in 2013, after it seemed that Sam Houston had appeared to put the last nail in the coffin. In the rematch, although the score was closer, Sam Houston never buckled after establishing a 14-1 lead with 3:28 left in the first quarter.

“In the first half, it was a different game,” Allen said. “We took care of business and did our job. Certain guys needed to pick up the intensity and work together.”

Fredericksburg never was able to manufacture a run against Sam Houston this year.

“They seemed to come at us with four-point swings,” Thornton said. “Then we were able to make another run and get some separation. I was really concerned about that. You can look at how they played last year, but this year it’s not the same team – for either one of us.

“I didn’t want us to take them lightly. I knew (Fredericksburg coach) Tim Kaman would come out with a good game plan. I knew they’d be tough and stay committed – and when you do that, you have a chance to win.”

Harris scored Sam Houston’s first seven points, converting a three-point play off a steal with 4:47 left in the first quarter.

“Jordon keeps getting better,” Allen said. “He’s a great leader. I look up to him, and so does most of the team.”

Allen (14 points, 4 rebounds) rattled home his first dunk off a defensive rebound from freshman Jawon Anderson (6 points, 4 assists). He followed it up with a layup on an assist from Harris and the Hurricanes led 18-5 late in the opening quarter.

Fredericksburg closed to 18-10 at the quarter’s end after sophomore substitute Cole Bourgeois made a three-pointer and Kyle Reeh scored inside. The Billies cut their deficit to six points twice in the second quarter, but two 3-pointers from Myles Thornton (the coach’s son) helped stave off the threat.

Sam Houston had restored a 10-point lead by halftime.

After a driving layup from Fredericksburg’s 6-foot-5 Clayton Braden (19 points, 11 rebounds), the Hurricanes assembled a 12-2 run the Billies never recovered from.

Prime scored six of his eight points during the run, turning a steal and a pair of offensive rebounds into baskets. Senior Brandon Seals sank a layup off a steal by Anderson. The stretch ended with a fast-break layup from Harris that began with a defensive rebound from Christian.

“We all know how important it is to play good defense,” Harris said. “Our defense creates our offense, so we have to play great defense. Everybody works hard on defense.”

Sam Houston led 44-26 with 1:32 to play in the third quarter. The Billies never were closer than 13 points in the remaining minutes.

For such a young team, it was an open question how they’d fare in the crucible of the regional finals since they haven’t truly been pushed in the postseason so far.

The Hurricanes defeated Wimberley 76-44 in the bi-district round and La Grange 82-63 in the area round. On paper, Fredericksburg loomed as their first big test, but Sam Houston kept the Billies at arm’s length.

On the heels of a convincing win over Hidalgo, history suggests that West Oso will provide their biggest playoff test to date – even though the Bears aren’t ranked.

“We’ve played some pretty good teams before we got into our district,” Thornton said. “They learned about playing together. I think they came in prepared for the playoffs.”