Photo: Kirk Holt | Waxahachie Daily Light
WHS gives state-ranked Timberview a battle in quarterfinals; Keller wins season series
MANSFIELD — The season rubber match against the Keller Indians didn’t go as planned for the Waxahachie Runnin’ Indians in the Mansfield ISD Spring Creek Classic as WHS dropped two games in a row on Friday and Saturday.
The Runnin’ Indians (8-4) had reached the championship quarterfinals of the tournament with two wins on Thursday, and drew Class 5A No. 4 Mansfield Timberview on Friday, coming away with a 73-64 loss.
WHS placed four players in double-digit scoring against Timberview. Devyn Franklin led the Runnin’ Indians with 17 points and V’Zarion Roberson added 14 points, including three 3-point baskets, before fouling out late. Kambren Drummer added 13 and Jordan Davis 12 in the game, while Parker Jefferson finished with six points and Joseph Lankford with two.
The Indians led at halftime by a 37-33 count behind nine points from Drummer in the first quarter and eight more from Davis in the second. After the intermission, though, the Wolves heated up with four treys and made 6-of-7 from the free-throw line as they went up 59-51.
In a consolation bracket game at Mansfield High School on Saturday, the Indians battled back from an eight-point third-quarter deficit, but fell just short in a 68-65 loss to Keller in the teams’ third meeting in a two-week span.
WHS led 18-15 after one, but went cold from the floor in the second quarter as Keller claimed a 30-26 upper hand at the half.
WHS had lost to Keller on Nov. 22, 59-38, in the Dallas Mavericks Classic in Frisco, but on Nov. 30, the Runnin’ Indians won, 88-71, at Mike Turner Gymnasium.
The Runnin’ Indians were scheduled to host Mansfield’s R.W. Goines STEM Academy at Mike Turner Gymnasium on Tuesday evening. They will be off this weekend and will travel to Red Oak next Wednesday, Dec. 15, for their final pre-district contest at 7:45 p.m.
WHS will open District 11-6A action on Dec. 21 at Waco Midway. That will also be their final game before the Christmas holiday.