The boys regional quarters and girls regional semis kicked off on Friday night with some awesome matchups featuring some of the state's best teams.
Here's the recap of what went down and what's on the horizon for Saturday.
Eagles Soar in Top 5 Showdown
Casoon Wallace had a big night in (No. 3 in TABC rankings) Richardson's 64-54 win over previously-unbeaten (No. 4 in TABC rankings) South Grand Prairie, dropping 31 points to help his team advance to the 6A Region I Semifinals.
Richardson (24-1) used a 15-5 run in the second quarter that flipped a back-and-forth and close game into a 30-22 Richardson lead at the half.
From there, Richardson would keep South Grand Prairie (21-1) at arms length the rest of the way.
Nelson Needs OT to Down North Crowley
In the other 6A Region I Quarterfinals, Byron Nelson (21-3) built up a 12-point halftime lead over (TABC No. 10) North Crowley (28-2) before needing overtime to down the state-ranked team.
Finley Bizjack scored 31 points to lead Byron Nelson, including the game's decisive free throws the waning seconds of overtime to put Nelson up five.
[Richardson will meet Byron Nelson in the Regional Semifinals at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Rock Hill High School in Prosper]
Here is the rest of the DFW boys regional quarterfinal games this weekend.
No. 2 DeSoto Rolls to Regional Finals
Thanks to a 15-point scoring advantage in the third quarter, (TABC No. 2) DeSoto powered right through (No. 12) Langham Creek, 74-41.
DeSoto (25-2) got 16 from Sa'Myah Smith, 12 from Amina Muhammad and 10 from Ayanna Thompson to punch its ticket to the Regional Finals.
By halftime, it was looking like a win for DeSoto, which had already built up a 13-point lead. DeSoto is one win away from its second State Tournament appearance in three years. In 2019, DeSoto was the runner-up, losing to Converse Judson.
DeSoto will meet the winner of Saturday's winner of (TABC No. 3) reigning 6A state champ Duncanville or Klein Oak.
Frisco Liberty Does It Again
Defense, defense, defense.
It's been the calling card for the reigning 5A state champs since the playoffs begin, and that was the case Friday night as Frisco Liberty (20-8) stifled North Forney in a 49-30 win to earn another trip to the Regional Finals.
In all four games this postseason, Frisco Liberty has held its opponents to 30 points or less - a feat it has pulled off in 17 of its 20 wins this season. In typical Liberty fashion, it was able to get a number of defensive stops on North Forney (20-7) and then turn around and convert the turnover into points.
Now Liberty is one win away from its third straight State Tournament appearance.
Wylie East Survives Red Oak
Riding a 17-game win streak, (TABC No. 12) Wylie East needed a bucket in the closing seconds of regulation to extend the game against (No. 19) Red Oak and pull off the comeback bid.
Red Oak (24-6) at one point led 23-10 in the first half and then 48-39 early in the fourth quarter before Wylie East was able to tie the score to force overtime with a 14-5 run capped off by A'Kasha Davis' layup with less than five seconds in regulation.
In the fifth frame, Wylie East continued that run in fourth by outscoring Red Oak 12-7, which in total was a 26-12 run through the fourth quarter and overtime.
Wylie East is in the Regional Finals for the first time in the program's history.
[Frisco Liberty will meet Wylie East in the Regional Final. Time, date and location TBD]
Here is the rest of the DFW girls regional semifinal games this weekend.
Bradley C. Collier (VYPE)
