“I told them at the half that (Killeen) Shoemaker would make a run at us and they should be prepared for it,” Temple first-year boys coach Tim Thomas said of the Wildcats’ 54-49 victory Friday night in District 12-5A action at Wildcat Gym.
Thomas proved his worth as a prophet and his team handled the situation to claim its fourth victory in 13 district starts.
With 6-2 junior Erik Valdez scoring 14 of his game-high 25 points in the first half, Temple mounted a 30-18 lead by the popcorn break.
But the playoff-bound Grey Wolves, hoping to even their season mark at 16-16 and improve to 8-5 in 12-5A, made short work of the Temple advantage.
With Jade Allen proving himself to be the jewel in the run, Shoemaker scored the first 12 points of the third quarter to deadlock things with five minutes and 21 seconds to go in the period.
Temple, improving to 10-18 for the season, answered the challenge with five consecutive points, including a bucket and foul shot by Lache Seastrunk.
“Our reserve guys went in and gave us a lift at that point,” Thomas said. “It was a great team win for us.
“With everything going on (senior night and parents night) and their comeback, we could have backed off, but we didn’t. This district is so competitive that you can’t take a night or even a half off.”
With Temple up 38-33, Shoemaker scored eight of the next 10 points to gain its only lead of the game at 41-40 on a 3-pointer by Keith Vinson with 6:50 to play.
In the spirit of the opening announcement - “Let’s get ready to rumble” - the Wildcats and Wolves duked it out for the next two minutes as the score fell even at 43 with 4:13 to go.
However, Seastrunk scored back-to-back baskets to put the Wildcats up by four with 3:39 to go. Shoemaker never got closer than two points after that.
Nursing that two-point margin with 18 seconds to go, Temple’s Donovan Shumpert arched in a pair of left-handed free throws to make the score 53-49 and 15 seconds later. After Vinson had missed Shoemaker’s final shot, Shumpert added another free throw to complete the scoring.
“At the end of the third quarter I told them that we only gave up 18 points in the first half, another 18 in the third quarter and if we did it again in the fourth quarter, we’d get beat,” Thomas said.
Temple outscored Shoemaker, which won the first meeting between the schools by 11 in Killeen, 16-13 in the fourth period.
The Grey Wolves helped put themselves in a deep hole in the first half by making just five of 29 field goal attempts. The Wildcats put down 13 of their 28 attempts during the initial 16 minutes.
Seastrunk supported Valdez with 11 points, while D.J. Wright, who had eight points, dropped in both of Temple’s 3-pointers in the game during the first half. Chris Randle, a 6-4 junior, pulled down 10 rebounds for the Wildcats.
Vinson, who had one of Shoemaker’s two 3s, led the Wolves with 13 points, while D’Aaron Sears chipped in 11 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
“This team had a lot of accomplishments that don’t show in the won-lost record,” said Thomas, whose team will finish its season at College Station A&M Consolidated on Tuesday night. “Tonight, they hustled, showed teamwork, scrapped and played blue-collar defense.
“Four district wins is better than the last two seasons combined.”
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