In the first half, the Wildcats produced enough offense to stay within range of the 12th-ranked Eagles. But during the final 16 minutes, the Temple attack was clogged to the point it produced little more than occasional splats of air.
So it was at a lively Eagle Gym as Ellison (18-4) improved its 13-5A record to 4-0 with an 85-51 grilling of Temple (8-13), which fell to 0-3 in district play.
Trailing 40-30 at the half and even having battled to within five points after a disasterous opening period, Temple scored just 21 points in the second half while allowing 45.
“We felt like we played well in the first half and only trailed 30-25 (at one point),” Temple coach Bruce Etheridge said. “But in the second half we just couldn’t score. They had trouble getting started as well, but we couldn’t take advantage of the situation.
“Against a team like Ellison, you just can’t pass up your opportunites. We were moving (15 of the first 21 points in the second period), but we hit a cold spell.”
The Eagles missed their first five shots of the third quarter, but once that got started the competitive element was soon removed from the contest.
With 5-7 guard Marquavios James hitting a 3-pointer and another bucket to lead the surge, Ellison bounced the lead up to 47-30 with 4:55 to go in the quarter. Less than a minute later, James and Zach Mims combined to lead a run of 12 consecutive points to put the Eagles ahead 61-35.
Back-to-back baskets by senior Isaiah Caldera pulled Temple within 22 points at 61-39 with 1:20 remaining in the quarter.
The Wildcats never got closer and trailed by 37 points with 1:27 to go in the game when Shon Lewis canned a 3.
Except for its mini-swoon in the second period, Ellison was never in trouble and got off to a fast start, making its first seven shots of the game en route to 24-10 lead after the first period. Turnovers also were a hurdle in the early going for Temple.
For the second straight game, an opponent was able to take Temple’s principal weapon - the 3-point shooting of junior guard D.J. Wright - out of the game. Wright managed just six point - one 3-pointer in each half.
“We’ve got to be able to finish,” Etheridge said. “Ellison also wore us down with its depth.”
Ellison, which faces cross-town rival Shoemaker (2-1 in 13-5A) on Friday, was led by 19 points and nine rebounds from 6-5 junior post Chris Harpe and 18 points from James. Mims added 11 points for the Eagles, who put down 33 of 61 shots from the floor.
Ten of the 11 players on coach David Manley’s worked their way into the scoring column.
Sophomore Bron Etheridge came off the bench to lead Temple scoring with 17 points and was the only Wildcat in double figures. Sophomore forward Eric Valdez scored nine points, all in the first half.
Temple, which had its offensive opportunities limited by the turnovers, made 20 of 55 shots. The Wildcats also came up on the short end of a 39-34 rebounding edge.
The Wildcats, who have lost three straight games, return home for two straight games. They play preseason favorite Bryan at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Harker Heights at the same time on Tuesday.
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