WILLS POINT — Sherman’s shots stopped falling at inopportune times during Tuesday night’s bi-district game.
After nosing ahead early in the fourth quarter of a streaky, seesaw battle, the Bearcats couldn’t put the ball in the hole late when they had opportunities to stay even, and Whitehouse came away with a 68-65 win at Wills Point High School to knock the Cats out of the 4A Region II playoffs.
“We took the lead twice and couldn’t hang on both times,” Sherman coach Ryan Purtell said. “The bottom line is we had a terrible night offensively. When you’re in the playoffs, you have to be at your best, and that was one of the worst shooting nights we’ve had in a long time.”
One of the bright spots was sophomore guard Tre Mask. Showing no signs of a gimpy ankle, Mask scored 26 points, including four 3-point baskets, and grabbed five rebounds. Senior Qualin Hayden ended his prep career with nine points and nine rebounds, while junior T.J. Ball also scored nine.
But the Cats could not stop Whitehouse sophomore forward Patrick Mahomes, who poured in 29 points and grabbed 11 boards.
At the beginning of the fourth, Mask hit a 3-pointer from the left corner giving Sherman (15-16) a 51-49 lead with 7:10 to go. But Whitehouse’s Ross Viergever made a basket to even the score, and after an exchange of possessions, Mahomes drove inside to give the Wildcats the lead for good.
Sherman chased Whitehouse the rest of the way and trailed by as much as seven with three minutes left before making one final push, with another Mask basket and a pair of baskets by Hayden.
Hayden’s runner with 6.1 seconds left cut it to a one-possession game, but Whitehouse’s Jaylon Dews made two free throws with 5.4 ticks left to ice it. Ball’s putback at the buzzer provided the final score.
Dews added 14 and Jake Parker 13 for the Wildcats, who move on to the area round.
In the first game of Tuesday’s doubleheader, Kilgore beat Greenville in overtime, 61-59.
From the outset, Whitehouse (19-9) attacked the Bearcats inside and got their two big men, Armon Jones and Brandon Colon, into quick foul trouble.
“The second level of our defense was worse tonight than it’s been,” Purtell said. “We didn’t get to the spot, in our help position nearly as well as we’d liked. We got so focused on stopping their perimeter game that we were too busy chasing guys on the perimeter when we should’ve been in help positions.”
Even so, Sherman was able to keep pace with the Wildcats thanks largely to Mask, who scored 12 of his points in the first eight minutes to keep the Bearcats within 21-20.
In the second quarter, it was Colon who gave the Cats a brief boost, with two free throws and than a bucket off a lob inside for a brief 31-30 edge with 2:35 to go. Then Ball made it a three-point lead with a deuce.
But Mahomes took over with two driving baskets, with three Sherman turnovers and a missed shot interspersed in the final two minutes of the half, and Whitehouse regained a 35-33 edge at the break.
