McKinney Lions basketball pose with Regional trophy after defeating Arlington Martin (3/5/22).
For the first time in nearly a century, the McKinney Lions are headed to the state tournament. On Saturday, McKinney posted a 58-36 victory over Arlington Martin to advance to the state tournament. VYPE DFW was there to catch all the action!
A story 94 years in the making- McKinney has a boys basketball team headed to the UIL State Tournament in San Antonio, Texas. The first half of the game saw what most expected to see- a close race to the finish as both teams went head-to-head for their chance to pull ahead. Martin jumped out to an early lead and continued to force McKinney to keep up with their pace through the first half of play. Toward the end of the first half, McKinney found their footing and went on a 10-point run. As the teams headed into halftime, the Lions were down by only one score (25-23).
"At halftime we talked about forcing kills," said McKinney head Coach Wes Watson in an interview after the game. "We wanted to put as many points up without them being able to score. They could get the ball, but we didn't want them to score." Headed into the second half, the Lions took Watson's message to heart and forced kill after kill in order to shut down Martin. With strong defensive playing backing their offense, the Lions were set to finish strong.
Senior Alex Anamekwe led the team in scoring with 20 points while senior Thatcher McClure (10) and junior Ja'Kobe Walter (15) also scored double digits to help secure the victory for McKinney. The Lions are set to face-off against Austin Westlake at 7 p.m. on Friday in the State Semifinals.
Highlight video filmed by Ibifiri Jamabo.
