SAN ANTONIO -- With Kennedale trailing in the middle of the fourth quarter, it went to its closers.
Jacoby Lovings and Trey Smith have been the team's go-to scorers this season, and they didn't disappoint in their biggest game of the year.
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Down by two in the middle of the fourth, Lovings had to beat two players to score a basket, so he made an up-and-under layup to tie the score. On the next possession, Smith stole a pass from Houston Wheatley, which resulted in a layup to take the lead.
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Lovings scored 16 points and had a team-high four assists, helping Kennedale beat Wheatley 69-65 in the Class 4A Division II state championship game.
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"We trust them to win us the game," Kennedale coach Doug Groff said. "Everybody has a role, and they know they're the finishers. And the other guys know that they're gonna take care of it."
The Wildcats rode a 16-game winning streak into the state championship. This is the second boys basketball state championship for Kennedale, with the first coming in 2008.
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In the fast-paced game Kennedale had 21 turnovers, while Wheatley had 28. But Kennedale won the rebound battle 46-43. They scored 32 points off turnovers.
Kennedale had 52 points in the paint and 24 on the fastbreak. Bryson Nickerson, who had nine points, helped the team score in the restricted area. He had help from A'meir Williams, who had a game-high 14 rebounds.
Watch: Kennedale celebrates after defeating Houston Wheatley in 4A-II boys state championshipKennedale boys basketball topped Houston Wheatley 69-65 in the Class 4A-II boys basketball state championship game.Advertisement
Kennedale started slowly. Wheatley's full-court press helped it to a 7-0 lead. But Kennedale stormed back with the help of Smith, who finished with a team-high 22 points. Smith was also named the game's MVP.
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At the end of the second quarter, Lovings threw no-look assists on back-to-back possessions to ignite a comeback. Lovings' flashy passes made Wheatley's fast-paced defense think twice before jumping into passing lanes.
"It's really a blessing because my teammates always find a hole," Lovings said. "I just believe in them to find a hole, and I just overlook the defender and throw it to him."
Smith finished an 8-0 run in the second quarter with a steal and then scored to cut the Wheatley lead to 36-34. Kennedale outscored Wheatley 22-18 in the second quarter, while shooting 11-for-21 (52.4%) from the field.
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Wheatley's Quinton Sanders, who finished with a game-high 24 points, helped his team jump to a lead in the third. But Kennedale was relentless.
Kennedale's Jackson Stingley was running down the court to beat Wheatley's full-court press when, as he looked to his left, he saw Lovings. The 5-10 guard rewarded his teammates by making a 3-pointer that gave Kennedale its first lead of the game with 56 seconds left in the third quarter.
"They don't give up. They fight," Groff said. "We've been behind before. We played good teams before. We felt like if we could keep it tight, and in the fourth quarter we'll make our run and we'll pull away."
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And when it mattered most, they pulled away just like their coach envisioned.
With a little over a minute left, Lovings and Smith were called on to be finishers. Lovings responded with four made free throws, and Smith made a game-clinching free throw to end Wheatley's comeback attempt.
Before making the team's last free throw, Smith was 1-for-5 from the free throw line, but he just needed to make one free throw to make it a four-point game.
"Going through my mind is, 'I gotta make one free throw,' but I wanted to make two, but it just didn't happen," Smith said. "So I'm glad I made the first free throw."
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