Schaffer’s 22 points lead Indians in loss

07:50 AM CST on Saturday, February 25, 2006

By Chuck Cox / Staff Writer

THE COLONY — Prior to Friday’s Class 3A Region I area playoff game against Sanger, Carrollton Ranchview head coach Dee Boyd said his team was an “ugly 22-8.”

There wasn’t anything unattractive about the way it got to 23-8.

DRC/David Minten

Sanger’s Collin Perkins (32) goes for a layup as Carrollton Ranchview’s David Kyles (4) atempts to block it during a Class 3A area  playof game on Friday at The Colony High School. Sanger’s J.T. Schaffer and Ranchview’s Wayne Burton look on.

The Wolves were relentless and nearly flawless in cruising to a 79-61 victory over the Indians, which ended Sanger’s season at 19-14, at Cougar Gymnasium.

Ranchview, which will face the Iowa Park-West winner in the regional quarterfinals, was big, physical and athletic and used all three of those assets to its utmost advantage in shutting down the Indians and scoring the most points on Sanger of any team this season.

“I told Coach Boyd after that game, ‘You guys have got a team good enough to get to Austin. I think you guys have all of the facets you need,’” Sanger head coach Jude Stanley said. “They’ve got speed, they’ve got strength, they’ve got shooters, and they’ve got inside play. They’ve got all of the facets to make a run, and I think they will make a run if they can keep it together.”

The Wolves most definitely had it together against Sanger, immediately taking the Indians out of their rhythm and never giving them a chance to find their footing. From the opening tip, Ranchview’s big-man combo of 6-8 Jermydrell Burton and 6-7 Wayne Burton made life difficult for Sanger on offense, as the pair swatted away shots left and right and contained 6-9 senior Collin Perkins, who finished with 11 points and nine rebounds.

“They’ve got a lot of speed and had the two 6-8 guys inside against our one, which was very tough all night,” Stanley said. “They put one on Collin, and then put the other one on Collin and just wore him down.”

The Wolves ended up blocking 10 Indian shots, six by Wayne Burton, who had a monster game with 12 points and 14 rebounds, and four by Jermydrell Burton, who also had six points and nine boards.

“We worked on pump fakes all week, but we didn’t really do a good job of that,” said Sanger senior J.T. Schaffer, who led the way for the Indians with 22 points and eight rebounds. “They were just so quick. We really hadn’t faced a team like that all year. It was one of the biggest teams — if not the biggest team — we had faced. We really hadn’t seen any size like that. Usually, Collin is the tallest person out there.”

Ranchview also effectively used its full-court press, forcing 17 Sanger turnovers, and proved it could score both inside and outside on offense. The Wolves knocked down 10 3-pointers, but also threw down five electrifying dunks.

“It wasn’t an easy game,” Boyd said. “Sanger’s got a great coach, they play good basketball and this time we got the better end but next time it won’t be like that. We are more athletic. It helps to be tall. That’s why they call it a big-man game. If we don’t have the big boys, we lose this game by 20.”

The Wolves held the Indians to just two points for nearly the first four minutes of the game, helping them to an 18-6 lead at the end of one. Sanger cut the lead to 10 on a Perkins putback to start the second quarter. But the Indians could not get any closer than that for the duration of the game.

Ranchview led by 13 at the half, but really took control of things in the third quarter by outscoring Sanger 23-14 to go ahead by 22 points.

The Wolves were up by 23 with a little less than two minutes remaining when the Indians busted off a quick 8-0 run to cut the lead to 15. But Ranchview’s Travis Alexander ended the run by burying a trey.

“Them coming out and pressing us hurt us, but I thought we broke the press real well a lot of times and we got a lot of great ball movement,” Stanley said. “We were able to get down to the basket, we just couldn’t finish. Normally when teams press us, we’re able to break the press, penetrate and get a layup out of it. But with these guys, they’re so long and tall they were able to alter a lot of our shots. I’m real proud of the kids. I thought they played hard.”

Four other Ranchview players finished in double figures, including David Kyles (15 points), Antwone Matlock (14 points), Demarkus Wilson (13 points) and Thedford Simmons (11 points).

The Wolves scored 18 or more points in all four quarters, while the Indians scored 18 or fewer in all but the fourth.

Sanger, which went to the regional tournament last season, also got 13 points and seven rebounds from Clay Byington and 11 points from Adam Murrell.

CHUCK COX can be reached at 940-566-6872. His e-mail address is ccox@dentonrc.com

Carrollton Ranchview 79, Sanger 61

Sanger           6          18        14        23        —        61

Ranchview     18        19        23        19        —        79

Sanger (19-14) — Clay Byington 13, Adam Murrell 11, Kevin Perry 4, J.T. Schaffer 22, Collin Perkins 11.

Ranchview (23-8) — David Kyles 15, Jermydrell Burton 6, Thedford Simmons 11, Brandon Williams 3, Travis Alexander 3, Desmond Comfort 2, Antwone Matlock 14, Demarkus Wilson 13, Wayne Burton 12.