When top-ranked Texas lost to Notre Dame in the 1971 Cotton Bowl and finished No. 3 in the final Associated Press poll of the 1970 season, UT coach Darrell Royal was quick to put a positive spin on the defeat that snapped the Longhorns’ 30-game winning streak.
“There are still more folks looking up at us than there are looking down on us,” Royal said.
And so it is with the Wagner boys basketball team, which saw its 30-game winning streak end with an 87-78 loss to Garland Lakeview Centennial in the Class 5A state semifinals Friday in Austin.
While the Thunderbirds fell in the semifinals for the second year in a row, they can take pride in knowing they were one of the top four teams in their class again.
Wagner, which lost a 61-58 heartbreaker to Cedar Hill in last year’s semifinals when the Longhorns hit a 3-pointer in the waning seconds, has traveled far in only four varsity seasons.
The T-birds are 105-14 since going 17-14 in their varsity debut, and have gone 70-10 the past two seasons.
Even without a state championship, that’s a great run by any standard.
“We’ve had some great kids to be around, and it was fun to see them develop,” Wagner coach Clifton Ellis said Sunday. “We had a great senior class and a cohesive unit that was close on and off the court. These kids made Wagner basketball mean something in the city and the region, and gave hope to other programs at our school by setting the bar high.
“That’s what I’ll always remember about these kids. They were always striving for more and more. They never settled and never were satisfied. They accepted every challenge that was thrown at them.”
Wagner (38-2) led Lakeview Centennial 23-12 after one quarter, but the Patriots were ahead 38-35 at the half. Down 62-58 heading into the final period, Lakeview Centennial outscored the Thunderbirds 29-16 to prevail in its first state-tournament game.
Fort Bend Bush beat the Patriots 65-58 for the Class 5A title on Saturday.
There were many who thought Wagner would be in the final, but Lakeview Centennial was every bit as good as Ellis said they were when he talked about the Patriots last week.
“It was a tough game,” said senior guard Jordan Clarkson, who led Wagner with 22 points. “They came out and played more aggressive than us. They played hard.”
Clarkson said the Patriots’ full-court press took its toll on the T-birds, who finished with 22 turnovers.
“We hadn’t seen that kind of pressure all year,” said Clarkson, who has signed with Tulsa. “That was a big thing to overcome. It was really tiring and it made it hard for us to get into our offense.”
Clarkson, who also had seven rebounds, was named to the 5A All-Tournament team.
While Ellis acknowledged Lakeview Centennial’s press hurt his team, he said that wasn’t the difference in the game. After all, he said, the Patriots had only one less turnover than Wagner.
“Both of us created turnovers,” Ellis said. “They just made a few more shots than we did and hit more free throws. We had some shots that rimmed out in the second half and some missed free throws that really deflated us and gave them hope.”
Lakeview Centennial finished with only two more field goals (31-29) than the T-birds, but the Patriots shots 55.2 percent from the field and hit 22 of 31 free throws.
Wagner shot 44.8 percent (29-68) and made 11 of 22 freebies.
While both teams were similar in style – employing an up-tempo offense and full-court defensive pressure – Ellis said the Patriots were bigger and more physical than the T-birds.
“That kind of hurt us,” he said. “We played some teams this season that had two bigger, physical players, but not five across the board like they had.”
Senior Jacorey Phoenix and junior Devonta Davis scored 12 and 10 points, respectively, to complete the T-birds’ double-digit scoring.
Senior Andre Roberson, who fouled out with 2:43 left and Wagner trailing by only four, finished with eight points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots.
Roberson credited Lakeview Centennial for keeping its composure after falling behind 15-2.
“They shook off the nerves and it wasn’t that big deal to play in front of that many people,” Roberson said. “Once they got going, they were very aggressive.”
The T-birds will lose their entire starting lineup, which included Phoenix, James Buchanan and Donte Himes, to graduation.
“It’s been a great ride,” Roberson said. “I’m going to miss the guys. Someday when I have kids, I can tell them that I played on two teams that made it to the state tournament. That’s something.”
Yes, it is.
