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Turned back: Arlington Seguin uses strong second half to end West Mesquite's season
By DEVIN HASSON, dhasson@starlocalnews.com
GARLAND--West Mesquite overcame a substantial height disadvantage in its regional quarterfinal win over Woodrow Wilson and it was confident it could do it again.
For one half against Arlington Seguin, the Wranglers did just that.
But the Cougars asserted themselves in the paint at the start of the third quarter and there was not much West Mesquite could do about it as Arlington Seguin went on to a 70-59 victory in a Class 4A Region II semifinal game at the Curtis Culwell Center.
West Mesquite played brilliantly in spurts in the first half but could not generate the same runs in the second.
Arlington Seguin's front line had a lot to do with that, as Brandon Parrish, Greg Wesley and Kimani Jackson are all listed at 6-5 or taller, while the Wranglers' regular rotation features no player bigger than 6-1.
Arlington Seguin forced 13 turnovers after halftime and held a 21-12 rebounding advantage, with several of those boards leading to easy buckets near the rim.
"Turnovers and second chance points," West Mesquite head coach Todd Brewer said. "In the second half, I thought we had some mental lapses. We had everybody going to the front of the rim and not blocking out the way we needed to and it cost us."
Despite their struggles, the Wranglers were within 47-43 early in the fourth quarter until a 9-2 run turned it into a double-digit deficit. Arlington Seguin got the lead to as big as 61-49 before Jordan Johnson got hot late and tried to bring West Mesquite back.
Johnson hit a twisting layup, drained a trey and then converted a three-point play to bring them to within 66-59 with 42 seconds left.
The Wranglers then stole the inbound pass and had two chances to draw even closer but both fell off the mark and the ensuing transition game led to a dunk by Wesley to put the game away.
"These kids never stop battling," Brewer said. "We got back there a little bit at the end but we hadn't done what we needed to before that and we couldn't get close enough. We knew they were going to make a run we just didn't do enough to quash it in time."
Johnson led West Mesquite with 19 points, with Braylon Rayson scoring 16 and Jalen Etienne adding 10.
Normally, having those three players in double figures is a recipe for success and it was for a while.
Rayson hit a trey from well beyond the arc and Johnson added another as the Wranglers raced to a 8-3 lead. Arlington Seguin countered with a 11-2 run to end the first quarter, though, with Parrish scoring five of his team-high 19 points, including a three-point play to make it 14-10.
But West Mesquite was able to track down rebounds early on and that allowed them to push the ball, which falls in line with its ideal game plan.
A pair of free throws by Rayson and a layup by Johnson allowed the Wranglers to regain the advantage at 17-16.
That was just the start of a an 11-0 run, with Nate Davis and Tex Nunez scoring inside and Rayson knocking down a step-back 3-pointer as the lead swelled to 24-16.
Parrish helped get his team back on track with a bucket inside and Jackson scored four late points to get to within 28-25 at halftime.
The Cougars quickly scored the first five points of the second half, but West Mesquite countered when Etienne fed Tyrone Davis for a layup and Nate Davis hit a pullup jumper to tie the game at 32-32.
The teams continued to go back and forth, with a 3-pointer by Rayson giving the Wranglers a 35-34 lead and a putback by Jordan giving them a 40-39 edge, but that would turn out to be the last time they would be in front.
It was a bittersweet ending for a West Mesquite team that features 14 seniors on its playoff roster. But this is a group that will not soon be forgotten after winning 54 games the last two seasons and leading the program to the first two regional tournament appearances in school history.
"They put us on the map," Brewer said. "This senior class has been good as gold. They worked hard and won a lot of ball games for us."
Follow Devin Hasson on Twitter: @DevinHasson.
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