McKINNEY — The two Class 2A Region II finalists from a year ago had a few new faces in their lineups, and each team had a different head coach than it had in their 2009 meeting.

One thing didn’t change, however: Ponder’s deadly accuracy from the floor.

Kaleb Broadstreet

David Robertson

Shooting at a 60-percent clip while playing stifling defense, the No. 2-ranked Lions took a 19-point halftime lead and went on to eliminate Whitewright, 68-38, on Thursday night in an area-round game at McKinney North High School.

“Ponder is a very good team; it’s in their blood,” said Whitewright first-year coach Shawn Dalbert. “We knew coming in they shoot the ball extremely well. They’re not the biggest, most athletic kids, but they executed well in their halfcourt sets. They will make you pay for the smallest things.”

Defending 2A state champion Ponder (32-4) advances to play Peaster, an upset winner over No. 3 Clarksville across town at McKinney, in the Region II quarterfinals on Monday.

“We know we’re playing on Monday; we just don’t know the venue or time yet,” said Ponder coach Jude Stanley. “We’ll have that worked out this morning.”

While the Lions were making 27-of-45 from the floor, Whitewright (25-8) was shooting just 14-of-43. The Lions also held a 29-19 rebounding advantage.

“We have to play good defense in the region we’re in,” said Stanley, also in his first season at the school. “There are four really good teams in our bracket who are playing for one spot in the regional tournament. Whitewright is a very talented team, and they have a lot of weapons. They’re a young team, but they’re tall and can crash the offensive boards. We had to get after them.”

Kaleb Broadstreet led Ponder with 18 points and six rebounds, followed by David Robertson with 14 points and four steals. Big man Scott Gregg, despite foul trouble, wound up with 13 points and Alex Huerta with 11.

Last season, the Tigers and Lions met in Stephenville for the right to advance to the Class 2A state tournament. Ponder prevailed, 51-36, en route to the 2009 2A state championship.

This time, the Tigers didn’t allow Ponder to score the game’s first 10 points, but the end result was similar. After Hamilton Luper’s basket made it a 6-4 game, the Lions went on a 15-2 run to take control.

The Tigers battled back to cut the margin to 11 at the 2:35 mark of the second quarter after sophomore Gerren Ballard’s putback, but Ponder ended the first half with eight straight points, including an alley-oop to Gregg from Jorden Young, and Robertson’s immediate steal and bucket right before the halftime horn.

To start the second half, the Tigers got three quick buckets from Tyrone Swoopes, Luper and Chris Bearden to make it 35-22, but after Stanley called a 30-second timeout to settle his team down, the Lions answered with two Gregg free throws and three-point baskets by Broadstreet and Young to reclaim the momentum and never looked back.

“Last year they made it to the regional finals against us and were pretty tough,” Huerta said. “The coaches told us to focus on this game, and that defense is going to be one of the key points. Their guard [Jordan Williams] was a returning starter from last year, and they told us we have to get on him.”

Luper and Ballard finished with eight points and Williams, a three-year starter at Whitewright, added seven in his final high school game. Swoopes, a freshman, and Bearden, a senior who joined the team in midseason, added six.

Dalbert, who coached in South Texas the last 10 years, says the future is bright for his team with the return of two 6-5 underclassmen in Swoopes and Ballard and the 6-4 Luper.

“We’re going to try to keep the tradition going at Whitewright,” Dalbert said. “Losing Jordan [to graduation] is a tremendous hit, but we’ve got a good group of young guys and some height. We’re excited.”

For the Lions, meanwhile, the road back to Austin will be a bumpy one, with longtime regional rival Peaster in the way. But having been in pressure situations is something Ponder’s players are accustomed to.

“They’re going to be tough, but we’ve just got to practice hard and play good defense,” Huerta said. “That’s all we need to do to win ballgames. That’s all that matters now.”

Ponder 68, Whitewright 38

Whitewright (25-9) — Hamilton Luper 8, Gerren Ballard 8, Jordan Williams 7, Tyrone Swoopes 6, Chris Bearden 6, Brett Hayes 3, Bryant Threadgill 2.

Ponder (32-4) — Kaleb Broadstreet 18, David Robertson 14, Scott Gregg 13, Alex Huerta 11, Jorden Young 6, Wade Ford 5, Zach Smith 1.