Hugo 53 St. Mary's 49

Friday, 12 March 2010 00:00

By Brian Moore

MOORE — Senor forward D.J. Shanklin and Junior guard Patrick Smith made some huge plays in the fourth quarter to lead Hugo to a 53-49 victory over St. Mary’s in the first round of the Class 3A state basketball playoffs on Thursday.
Hugo’s second half defense was phenomenal as they held St. Mary’s, a team averaging more than 70 point per game, to just five field-goals in the second half.
Down 47-43 with 4:32 seconds left, and the Buffs season ending with a possible loss, Shanklin made a pretty behind the back dribble to break St. Mary’s press and drove to the basket for 2 points. After a St. Mary’s miss, Rakeem Lennox shot a jumper from the elbow. Shanklin grabbed the rebound and was fouled as he put up his shot. He would miss the second free-throw, but after his second miss, he stole the ball back for the Buffaloes. Shanklin passed it to Smith, who gave it right back to him for 2 more points. That basket gave Hugo their first lead of the game and forced St. Mary’s to call a timeout with 3:52 left in the game.
“He didn’t want the season to end and made plays. He stepped up and put it on his back,” Coach Shanklin said.
St. Mary’s Dalton Newsome hit two free-throws with 1:37 left and a time out was called with Hugo down 1. Smith scored 2 points from under the basket on the ensuing inbounds pass to give Hugo a 1 point lead.
Newsome missed a 3-pointer and Hugo’s Carlos Henderson grabbed the rebound and was fouled right away. Henderson hit one of two free-throws. The next posession, a St. Mary’s jumper bounced off the top of the backboard and Shanklin grabbed the rebound and was also fouled right away. Up 2 points, with a chance to put the game out of reach, Shanklin missed both free-throws. Just like Shanklin earlier, Javon Jones almost stole the ball following the rebound but the ball rolled out of bounds. Retaining posession, St. mary’s called a timeout with 29.5 seconds left to set up their offensive play for a possible game winning shot. They inbounded the ball and got the shot they wanted, but Smith made a big play for the Buffaloes as he blocked the shot right into the arms of Henderson. Henderson caught the ball and threw it back to Smith right away. “It was huge, for our defense to step up again. Patrick made a big play,” Coach Darnell Shanklin said.
Smith would hit a free-throw and then Coach Shanklin called a timeout with 10.4 seconds left to set up his defense. St. Mary’s inbounded the ball and got off a 3-pointer that hit the front of the rim. As both teams scrambled for the rebound, the ball went out of bounds, out on St. Mary’s-Hugo ball. Smith received the inbounds pass and was fouled right away, again hitting a free-throw this time with 2.8 seconds left. Smith hit one free throw to give Hugo a 53-49 lead to end the game.
As Smith was shooting his final free-throw, D.J. Shanklin and Henderson could both be seen smiling as they lined up along the stripe. The two seniors were enjoying the moment, Hugo’s first win in the state playoffs since 1995.
The Buffs spent the rest of the day Thursday scouting opponents and watching Broken Bow play in Edmond. After a good night’s rest in a hotel, they will go over their gameplan in a meeting room before taking on defending state champion Cascia Hall at 6 p.m. in Moore.
D.J. Shanklin led Hugo with 15 points while Josh Brown added 8. Smith and Jones both had 7 points while Henderson and Donyale Shanklin each had 5. Rakeem Lennox had 4 points and Preston Wells added a couple.
In reference to the balanced scoring, Coach Shanklin said, “we had a lot of people contribute. It was about the team. It’s been that way all-season long and it’s paying off for us.”
Cascia Hall is led by a 6 foot 10 inch center that will have to be the focus of Hugo’s defense in their matchup. Henderson is 6 foot 8 inches tall and Hugo should be able to put some size on the floor to matchup with them. Another option would be for Hugo to use their tremendous team speed and just outrun their opponent. It will be a difficult game for the Buffs but still a game they can win.