They struggled early with the Rangers on both ends of the court and trailed 21-17 with 9 minutes, 15 seconds gone.
But by the time Ranger scored one more point 5:18 later, TC had produced 20 more points to seize a 37-21 lead - and the outcome essentially had been decided.
With the Leopards turning up their defensive pressure, Chris Ellis, Jordan Brown and Wes Dipprey scored all but two of the team’s 20 points during that outburst and Temple never looked back, cruising to a 115-75 men’s basketball victory at TC Gym.
“When we were down 21-17, No. 1, we were not shooting well, and No. 2, everybody was pressing a little,” said Temple coach Kirby Johnson, whose team moved to 17-1 overall and 2-1 in Northern Texas Junior College Athletic Conference play. “I just told the guys, ‘Relax and do your jobs.’ We started to play better defense and got some steals that turned into layups. From 21-17 on, everything was better.
“We needed that (kind of victory), because we have struggled since we came back from the break and we needed a confidence-builder.”
Freshman forward J.B. Conley, who scored 14 second-half points and paced TC with a game-high 22, had a simple answer for the Leopards’ game-changing surge in the first half.
“We just picked up our intensity,” said Conley, who also grabbed seven rebounds.
LaDon Huckaby scored 17 points for Temple, Harker Heights graduate Ellis had 16 and Killeen product Brown and Dipprey (eight rebounds) added 14 apiece. C.J. Richards contributed 12 points and 11 assists, and Ervin Johnson and DaVon Morrison each scored nine.
“I was real pleased with our balanced scoring,” Kirby Johnson said. “We were only two points short of having eight guys in double figures.”
Kenneth McCoy produced 17 of his team-best 19 points in the second half for Ranger (4-10, 0-2 NTJCAC), George Cenerios had 16 and Vernon Smith added 14.
The Leopards jumped out to a 4-0 lead on baskets by Brown and Conley, but the Rangers responded with consecutive 3-point shots by Cenerios and Smith and used hoops by Sheldon Bell and Dwane Kornegay to seize the 21-17 lead at the 10:45 mark.
Temple certainly was struggling to find its game at that point, but from that point on the Leopards were the dominant squad.
Dipprey made back-to-back inside baskets to tie it at 21, then Ellis and Brown both scored off of steals in an 11-second span. Dipprey proceeded to hit a midair putback and then a short floater for a 29-21 advantage 7:55 before halftime.
With TC’s pressure defense maintaining its tenacity, Ranger couldn’t stop the surge. Thomas Anguiano tipped a steal to Ellis for an easy basket, Brown hit a 13-foot jumper and Huckaby made a layin before Ellis threw down a one-handed slam dunk on a fast break to complete the 20-0 run for a 37-21 lead at the 6:15 mark.
Ranger finally hit two free throws with 5:27 left, and its next field goal came with 3:58 remaining - stopping a drought that lasted 6:47. Conley and Morrison then made three baskets as TC stretched its lead to 52-32 by halftime.
After the break, the Leopards didn’t give the visitors any hope of mounting a comeback. Huckaby scored in transition, Johnson buried a 3-pointer, and Ellis slashed for a reverse layup to push the lead past 30 for the first time at 67-36 with 15:21 left.
Conley led the offense after that as Temple ended up getting the comfortable victory it sought.
The Leopards will be off Saturday before they travel to Waco to battle longtime rival McLennan at 7:30 p.m. Monday. After TC lost its conference opener 103-88 at Weatherford last week, Conley said he and his teammates know what to expect.
“We learned that good teams are going to hit shots,” Conley said, “so we have to get our press going and keep playing hard."
Added Johnson: “We expect to get McLennan’s best game. In the first half of conference we play Weatherford, McLennan and Collin County on the road, and we’re all fighting for playoff spots. The fact that we shot free throws better tonight (30-for-38 after going 22-for-44 against Hill) hopefully will help us up there on Monday.”
gwille@temple-telegram.com
