Baseball: Clark powers Madison past Taft

Mavericks defeats Raiders 14-7 in 6; rematch Saturday

by Mark Kusenberger
SAsports.com Senior Writer

Brandon Clark belted two doubles and a homer to lead the Madison Mavericks to a 14-7 victory over Taft in six innings at the Muleyard.

It was Taft’s fourth game in a twenty-four hour span; their first game in the Gaylard Fenley Classic against MacArthur began at 2:33 on Thursday; their fourth game against Madison ended at 2:10 on Friday.

Clark doubled and scored in the first, hit a three-run homer in the fourth, and doubled and scored in the sixth to go 3 for 4.

Madison (3-1-1, 0-1 in 26-5A) fell behind early on an RBI single by Mason Lansdale. But Clark led off the bottom of the first with a double, and scored on a single by Austin Eichmann. Eichmann would later score on a throwing error to put Madison ahead 2-1.

Taft’s Travis Thompson (0-1) had five assists and a putout in the first two innings. The putout came on a popped up bunt, which Thompson caught, then threw to first to retire the runner for a double play.

Taft (2-3, 1-0 in 28-5A) retook the lead on a two-run single by David Gonzalez, then built it to 4-2 when Lansdale scored on a passed ball. Madison took the lead for good with a six-run fourth, featuring a two-run single by Bryan Myler and a three-run homer by Clark.

Madison’s Reagan Reed did something that could only happen in tournament play; he earned a pitching save on the base paths. Reed went from first base to the mound in relief of starter Dylan Kemper (1-0) in the top of the fifth with Madison leading 8-4 and the tying run on deck. After a double-play ball erased one of the two base runners, Kemper yielded a towering RBI double by Lansdale and a scorching two-run homer to Gonzalez. The score was 8-7, but Reed had held Madison’s lead.

Then in the bottom of the sixth, Reed was on first when Travis Dominguez doubled into the left-field corner to drive in three runs and put Madison ahead 14-7, activating the tournament run rule and making Madison the winner. And Reed had his save.

Madison went undefeated through the tournament at 3-0-1, and will be the first seed for Saturday’s action. Taft tied for fourth with Bastrop at 1-3; by virtue of Taft’s victory over Bastrop, Taft is the fourth seed and Bastrop is eliminated. Madison and Taft will play Saturday at 9:30 in the tournament semifinals.

TAFT 1 0 3 0 0 0 - 7 7 1
MADISON 2 0 0 6 2 4 - 14 13 1

Pitching lines IP H R ER BB HBP K PC
Taft
Travis Thompson (L) 5.2 13 14 13 5 0 2 110

Madison
Dylan Kemper (W) 4 5 5 5 3 0 1 83
Reagan Reed (Sv) 2 2 2 2 1 0 1 22

Madison boys eliminated

Mavericks overcome 19 point deficit against Akins, lose 60-59 at overtime buzzer

by Mark Kusenberger
SAsports.com Senior Writer

Akins coach David Peavy admitted the play didn’t go as designed.

With his Akins Eagles trailing Madison 59-58 with 7.57 seconds left in overtime, he’d hoped to send the ball inside to Kevin McFarlane. But Madison’s defense, as it had throughout the ballgame, forced Akins to work the perimeter.

With three seconds left, Yolonzo Moore put up a three attempt from the right corner. It missed the basket badly.

But it did find McFarlane, under the left low block to get the rebound, which he layed in at the buzzer, giving Akins at 60-59 bi-district victory over the Madison Mavericks Monday night at Steele High School.

The victory was the first playoff win in Akins’ history.

Akins had stormed out to a 27-8 lead early in the second, thanks to four three-pointers, two each from Moore and McFarlane. Moore and McFarlane combined for 22 of Akins 24 first quarter points; Malcolm Canada scored all ten of Akins’ second quarter points.

Early Madison was plagued by turnovers, and Akins was hitting from the outside. Once Madison’s perimeter defense matched its inside defense, Akins struggled. The Mavericks, led by 10 of Topher Campbell’s 17 points, outscored Akins 22-10 in the second quarter to close within 34-30 at halftime.

By then, McFarlane was in foul trouble, and Peavy began using his “spread to score” offense, asking his players to use up to a minute of the game clock before running a play.

The tactic slowed the tempo, keeping it close for both sides. Madison tied the game twice in the third quarter, finally taking the lead on a Jamal Johnson three-pointer 45-44. Aaron Morales, the fourth and last Eagle to score in the game, sank a basket to put Akins back in the lead, but Emilio Trejo’s basket with two seconds remaining put Madison ahead 47-46 after three quarters.

Before Johnson’s three, Madison hadn’t led since Tyler Wood’s second free throw put Madison ahead 2-0.

After another long Akins possession to start the fourth, Morales scored again to make it Akins 48-47. Akins built the lead to 52-49 before a Philip Brown basket closed Madison within one, and Johnson drove through traffic for a layup with about two minutes left, giving Madison a 53-52 lead.

Akins ran the next 1:30 off the clock before missing their shot; Philip Brown got the rebound, then Akins tied him up for a jump ball. Madison had the possession arrow; after the Mavericks inbounded, Akins fouled Johnson with 13.59 seconds left, and he made both free throws (in a one-and-one situation) to build the lead to 55-52.

But Madison fouled Canada in the act of shooting an NBA-distance three with 7.39 seconds left. Canada, whose father passed away on the date of the game several years previous, made all three free throws, forcing overtime.

Johnson converted two more free throws to put Madison in front 57-55 in overtime, then a three from Moore put Akins back ahead 58-57. Moore had a chance to extend the lead, but after a steal, he missed a driving layup.

Later, a Canada rebound gave Akins the ball back with 44.84 seconds remaining, but then he turned it over to Madison with 38.72 seconds left. With 25.09 seconds remaining, Johnson sank two more free throws – Johnson got all four of Madison’s overtime points with free throws – to put Madison ahead 59-58. The stage was set for the closing drama.

Akins now awaits the winner of the Judson-Stevens game, which will take place Tuesday evening at the UTSA Convocation Center. The game will be broadcast on the Texas Sports Radio Network and covered on SASports.com.

Quarters
MADISON 8 22 17 8 4 - 59
AUSTIN AKINS 24 10 12 9 5 - 60

MADISON SCORING: Topher Campbell 17, Jamal Johnson 16, Andre Scott 8, Philip Brown 8, Tyler Wood 8, Emilio Trejo 2, Taylor Henry, Jason Saleem, Vincent Taylor

AUSTIN AKINS SCORING: Malcolm Canada 19, Yolonzo Moore 18, Kevin McFarlane 17, Aaron Morales 6, P.J. Rivera, Anthony Rivera, Davontae Habbit, Jeremy Mendez

Wood leads Madison to victory

Tyler Wood’s 19 points send Madison to 43-33 victory over Roosevelt

by Mark Kusenberger
SAsports.com Senior Writer

Tyler Wood scored his team’s first seven points in the first half.

Then Wood scored his team’s first twelve points in the second half.

Once Wood got his team pointed in the right direction, Madison coasted to a 43-33 victory over Roosevelt Friday evening at Robert E. Lee High School.

Madison (21-12, 12-3 in 26-5A) scored on their first five possessions; Roosevelt’s first stop came when the Mavericks were called for an offensive foul. Madison held a cold-shooting Roosevelt team to four points in the first quarter, eight in the second, and one in the third. Madison coach John Valenzuela never called a timeout during the game.

Roosevelt’s third quarter point was a free throw by William Bryant, the second of his two attempts with 5:45 left in the third. Wood then scored the game’s next twelve points, including all ten of Madison’s third quarter tallies. Wood completed his personal run with a dunk off a Jamal Johnson assist early in the fourth quarter. After the slam, Madison led Roosevelt 34-13. Roosevelt closed the game on a 14-3 to make the final score more respectable.

Darian Burke led Roosevelt (15-16, 5-10 in 26-5A) with 19 points; Burke scored ten in the first half, but was shut out in the third quarter when Tyler Wood ran away with the game.

The win, combined with MacArthur’s later loss to Reagan, gave Madison sole possession of first place. Madison can win the district title with a victory over Reagan Tuesday or a MacArthur loss to New Braunfels. Madison and MacArthur split their meetings this season.

The Roosevelt loss, combined with Smithson Valley’s earlier win over Lee, dropped Roosevelt into a tie for seventh place with Smithson Valley. Roosevelt visits Smithson Valley next Tuesday; the winner will finish the season in a sixth place tie with Johnson, which completed their season Friday night.

Quarters
MADISON 11 11 10 11 - 44
ROOSEVELT 4 8 1 20 - 33

MADISON SCORING: Tyler Wood 19, Topher Campbell 6, Emilio Trejo 5, Philip Brown 5, Andre Scott 4, Jamal Johnson 2, John Davison 2, Brandon Hawk, Jacob Petry, Ron Olmos, Taylor Henry

ROOSEVELT SCORING: Darian Burke 19, Clarence Williams 5, William Bryant 4, Bo Serros 3, Kevin Johnson 2, Abraham Prather, Marcus Johnson, Jovante Vincon, Dante Jeffferson

Madison boys stay tied for first, even series with Lee

Three-pointers, free throws lead to 72-48 victory

by Mark Kusenberger
SAsports.com Senior Writer

Madison’s dominant first quarter keyed by a trio of three-pointers propelled them to a 72-48 victory over the Lee Volunteers Wednesday evening at Littleton Gym.

Madison clinched a playoff berth for the fifth year in a row with the win, their nine in their last eleven games.

Topher Campbell led all scorers with 16 points at the half, breaking the scoring ice with a three to start the game, then hitting another three in the second on his way to 13 second quarter points. After outscoring Lee 19-7 in the first quarter, Madison (20-12, 11-3 in 26-5A) outscored Lee 20-12 in the second quarter.

Madison coach John Valenzuela was particularly impressed with his team’s free throw shooting. The Mavericks converted 26 of 29 attempts for a Larry Bird-like 89.7%. Madison committed 25 fouls to Lee’s 18, but Lee only made 16 of their 30 free throw attempts. Starters Rudy DeLeon and Abel Mota fouled out for Lee (28-7, 8-6 in 26-5A).

The contest was a rematch of the game where Paul Garnica set the city’s career scoring record. While Lee won that game in a thrilling finish, this game proved to be a mismatch from the start. Garnica, who missed Lee’s game against MacArthur Saturday due to a knee bruise, played and appeared healthy, but made no field goals, scoring two points on 2 for 5 free throw shooting. Michael McPherson, who returned to the starting lineup after his minutes had limited for several weeks while he recovered from injury, led all scorers with 25 points.

Freshman Brandon Hawk played his first varsity game for Madison Wednesday night. He debuted in the second quarter and seemed to struggle with the speed of the game, but returned in the third quarter, scored a three-pointer for his first basket, and was much more effective from there on out.

After Wednesday’s results, Madison remains tied with MacArthur for first place in district with two games to go. Each team has a game remaining against Reagan; Madison also faces Roosevelt, while MacArthur also hosts New Braunfels. The teams split their district meetings.

The Lee loss, combined with Reagan’s win over Johnson, created a tie for fourth between Lee and Reagan; each team is one-and-a-half games behind third place Churchill. Reagan must play district co-leaders MacArthur and Madison in their last two games; Lee faces Smithson Valley and Churchill. Lee and Reagan split their district meetings. Lee has lost five of their last eight games since Garnica set the career scoring record.

Quarters
LEE 7 12 13 16 - 48
MADISON 19 20 21 12 - 72

LEE SCORING: Michael McPherson 25, George Cardenas 8, Rudy DeLeon 6, Abel Mota 4, Paul Garnica 2, Abel Mota 2, Joe Uribe 1, Jeremy McKracken, Christian May, Christian Trujillo, Chris Canedo, Jose Chapa

MADISON SCORING: Topher Campbell 18, Tyler Wood 12, Philip Brown 8, Jamal Johnson 7, Andre Scott 7, Taylor Henry 7, Emilio Trejo 4, Vincent Taylor 4, Brandon Hawk 3, Ron Olmos 1, John Davidson 1, Jacob Petry

Madison keeps share of first

Johnson, Scott lead Mavericks to 58-50 victory over Churchill

by Mark Kusenberger
SAsports.com Senior Writer

The Madison Mavericks remained tied with MacArthur for first place in District 26-5A after defeating the Churchill Chargers 58-50 Saturday afternoon at Littleton Gym.

The game began with a scoring flurry. Madison had no answer for 6’10 post player Mike Byron, who scored 11 points, and Churchill had no answer for speedy point guard Jamal Johnson, who scored 9 points. When Churchill got out to an 10-7 lead, Madison (19-12, 10-3 in 26-5A) answered with an 8-0 on a three-point play from Johnson and five point from Andre Scott. When Madison led 15-10, Mike Byron went on a personal 5-0 run, including a putback at the first quarter buzzer, to tie the game at 20.

The Mavericks had no answer for Byron in the first quarter, but they found one in the second – get him into foul trouble and force Coach Timothy Woods to bench him. Byron, who had one foul in the first quarter, was whistled for two fouls in eighty seconds early in the second, going to the pine with three fouls at the 5:02 mark of the second quarter. Madison led 24-20 at the time; barely ninety seconds later, the lead was 32-20.

But Churchill (20-12, 9-5 in 26-5A), having rallied from a 34-19 deficit in their first game against Madison, found the formula again, going on an 15-3 run to tie the game at 35 with just under four minutes left in the third. Churchill made six free throws during the rally.

For all the scoring frenzy in the first quarter, Churchill outscored Madison just 7-6 in the third. The Mavericks closed the quarter with four points from Scott, and led 39-35 after three.

Madison slowly built the lead up to 49-41, then the Chargers went on a 7-2 run. Chris Rogers’ three-pointer with 1:42 made it a one possession ballgame at 51-48. But Churchill lost golden opportunities when twice in the last minute, Madison missed the front of a one-and-one but got the rebound to keep possession. Tyler Wood had the first such rebound, and Topher Campbell had the second.

Byron led all scorers with 18 points; Johnson and Scott each scored 17 to lead Madison.

After Saturday’s action, Madison and MacArthur are both 10-3 in district and split their regular season meetings. The Mavericks can clinch a playoff berth with one victory in their last three games or one Reagan loss.

Churchill at 9-5 is tied in the loss column with 8-5 Lee, with Reagan one game behind in at 7-6. Reagan split with both Churchill and Lee; Churchill has one win over Lee, and the Chargers and Volunteers will meet again for their last regular season game.

Quarters
MADISON 20 13 6 19 - 58
CHURCHILL 20 8 7 15 - 50

MADISON SCORING: Jamal Johnson 17, Andre Scott 17, Topher Campbell 6, Taylor Vincent 6, Philip Brown 4, Tyler Wood 4, Taylor Henry 3, Emilio Trejo 1, Ron Olmos, John Davison

CHURCHILL SCORING: Mike Byron 18, Derek Salas 8, Scott Mammel 7, Clark Lammert 5, Chris Rogers 4, Michael Douglass 3, Jacob Woods 3, Brian Sledge 2, Taylor Sutlive, Doug Slattery, Ben Byron

MacArthur boys create first place deadlock

Three-way tie for first after Brahmas 54-50 overtime win over Mavericks

by Mark Kusenberger
SAsports.com Senior Writer

The MacArthur Brahmas closed regulation on a 9-3 run, then outscored Madison 8-4 in overtime on their way to a 54-50 victory Wednesday night at Littleton Gym.

The MacArthur victory creates a three-way tie for first place in the loss column among Madison (17-12, 8-3 in 26-5A), Churchill (8-3 in 26-5A), and MacArthur (22-6, 7-3 in 26-5A) with six dates left in the regular season.

Madison had gone on a 10-0 run in the fourth quarter to take a 44-37 lead. A Matt Gramling three was answered by a basket from Tyler Wood to give Madison a 46-40 lead, then three Brahmas free throws pulled MacArthur within one possession at 46-43 with 1:23 remaining.

After the Mavericks lost a pass out of bounds, MacArthur used about 30 seconds off the clock before Gramling’s three with 27 seconds left tied the game at 46. Gramling scored 8 points in the fourth quarter, all after committing his fourth foul with 5:24 left in regulation.

Wood missed a five-foot hook shot with 3 seconds left which would have won the game in regular, but did make the first basket of overtime. The 48-46 lead held up almost half the overtime period.

MacArthur got the ball back when Josh Williams, who committed his fourth foul with 6:14 remaining in regulation, took a charge with 2:38 in overtime to get MacArthur the ball. It set up Josh Simmons’ game-tying reverse layup.

After Gramling fouled out with 2:03 left in overtime, Jamal Johnson made the free throws to give Madison the lead back at 50-48. Then Brahma sophomore Jordan Pratt took over, scoring and drawing Emilio Trejo’s fifth foul; the free throw put MacArthur ahead for good at 54-50. A Pratt rebound gave MacArthur a stop on the next possession; Victor Dlugosz later made a free throw to put MacArthur ahead 52-50. Williams took another charge with 7.7 seconds left, then two free throws by Pratt with 6 seconds to go clinched the MacArthur win.

Madison led 23-21 at the half, with Topher Campbell scoring nine points and Wood eight. At the end of the first quarter, MacArthur took a 13-12 lead with 10 seconds left on a three by Simmons, only to have a Wood putback at the buzzer give Madison a 14-13 lead after one. Baskets from Jamal Johnson and Ron Olmos gave Madison their halftime lead.

The Brahmas, who normally shoot 39% from the three-point line, came out of halftime determined to feed the ball to Josh Williams on the block. The tactic ignited an 11-2 to run start the half and led to eight Williams points for the quarter.

Quarters
MADISON 14 9 9 14 4 - 54
MacARTHUR 13 8 15 10 8 - 50

MADISON SCORING: Topher Campbell 18, Tyler Wood 13, Jamal Johnson 10, Ron Olmos 4, Emilio Trejo 4, Taylor Vincent 1, Andre Scott, Taylor Henry, Manny Barela, John Davison, Philip Brown

MacARTHUR SCORING: Matt Gramling 18, Jordan Pratt 11, Josh Williams 11, Josh Simmons 7, Victor Dlugosz 2, Chris Parker, Chris Gramling

Lady Brahmas outrace Mavericks

Kindred comes off bench for 12, leading MacArthur to 48-39 victory

by Mark Kusenberger
SAsports.com Senior Writer

Nichole Kindred, a starter throughout the season for MacArthur, came off the bench for their game against Madison Wednesday evening at Littleton Gym.

MacArthur coach Jessica Meador may consider doing this again, after Kindred’s points led the Brahmas and helped them to a 48-39 victory.

MacArthur (19-8, 8-4 in 26-5A), which lost to Madison 59-58 in the first round of district, once again came up against a determined Maverick team. Madison took a 32-31 lead early in the fourth on a basket by Casey Wallace, before a 9-0 MacArthur run put the Lady Brahmas ahead to 40-32. Even then, Madison (11-18, 4-9 in 26-5A) battled their way within five with 32.8 seconds left before free throws by Victoria Willems cinched the win. MacArthur made six free throws in the fourth quarter to keep the Lady Mavericks at bay.

The Brahmas outscored Madison 10-9 in each of the first two quarters. Kindred scored four points each in the second, third, and fourth quarters. Charlicia Harper of Madison, who scored 30 points in the first MacArthur-Madison game, led all scorers with 18 points.

The win keeps MacArthur in third place in 26-5A, one game ahead of fourth-place Reagan in the loss column and two games ahead of fifth-place Smithson Valley and Roosevelt in the loss column. In the first round of district play, MacArthur defeated Smithson Valley and lost to Roosevelt.

Quarters
MADISON 9 9 8 13 - 39
MacARTHUR 10 10 11 17 - 48

MADISON SCORING: Charlicia Harper 16, Casey Wallace 11, Briana Jones 3, Monica Perez 3, Crystal Valero 3, Sonja Haga 3, Lauren Tucker, Genevieve Morales, Britanny Vasquez

MacARTHUR SCORING: Nichole Kindred 12, Marquisha Sparks 11, Victoria Willems 7, Alexis Isaac 5, Karisa Cantu 5, Danielle Mitchell 2

Harper weaves through Volunteers

Thirty point effort leads Madison to 66-49 victory over Lee

by Mark Kusenberger
SAsports.com Senior Writer

In the fourth quarter of Madison’s 66-49 victory over Lee Saturday afternoon, CeCe Harper took a rebound coast-to-coast for layup. Along the way, she seemed to pass within arm’s length of every other player on the floor.

A frustrated Lee fan pleaded to the defense: “Trip her!”

We doubt he was serious, but if we can’t justify his suggestion, we can understand his frustration. Harper, a Kansas commit, scored 30 points in leading Madison (10-15, 2-6 in 26-5A) to victory. Harper also scored 30 points in Madison’s other district victory over MacArthur.

Lee (8-16, 0-8 in 26-5A), which started a junior and four sophomores, began the game solidly, shutting out not only Harper, but all her teammates as well, for the first 4 minutes of the ballgame. The Lady Volunteers led 3-0 on two free throws from Mariah Silva and one from Lauren Gutierrez. Then Harper had a 6-0 run – two of her own baskets sandwiched around an assist to Briana Jones – staking Madison to a 6-3 lead.

A three from Serena Reyes – her first of four on the afternoon – tied the game at six before Madison closed the quarter on an 8-2 run; Madison led 14-8 after one quarter.

The Lady Volunteers played Madison within a point in the second and fourth quarters, and within 28-23 with six seconds left in the second quarter. But Harper’s free throws with 5.8 seconds left in the half proved to be the beginning of a 12-1 run which sealed Madison’s second district victory of the 2009-10 season.

Although Madison coach Tracy Hastings did see to it all her players participated, Harper played essentially the entire game, scoring her last basket with about a minute left. Therefore, it would be more accurate to consider Lee’s competitive performance in the second and fourth quarters a sign of promise rather than having taken advantage of their opponent’s bench.

Madison got 37 of their 66 points from seniors: 30 from Harper, 7 from Ashton Gulczewski.

No seniors scored for Lee.

MADISON SCORING: CeCe Harper 30, Briana Jones 11, Ashton Gulczewski 7, Monica Perez 7, Genevieve Morales 4, Crystal Valero 3, Lauren Tucker 2, Shelbi Rodriguez 2, Casey Wallace, Brittany Vasquez, Dominique Hunter, Sonja Haga

LEE SCORING: Serena Reyes 14, Lauren Gutierrez 9, Sara Gomez 8, Leslie Rosales 7, Mariah Silva 7, Deziree Prado 3, Gio Alvarez 1, Claudia Molina, Mary Bustamante, Jessica Goodman

2010 U.S. Army All-American Bowl - In Pictures

Photos by Antonio Morano
SAsports.com Senior Photographer
www.moranomemories.photoreflect.com
amorano@satx.rr.com

Nate Askew of Madison High School was the lone San Antonio player in this year’s U.S. Army All-American Bowl, featuring the top high school seniors from around the country.

Nate poses with SSG Soto of the Army. It was a day that he and his family would be proud of, as he had three catches in the West’s 30-14 victory over the East.

His coach at Madison, Jim Streety, was also honored by being the head coach of the West all-stars.

More photos are available for viewing:
www.moranomemories.photoreflect.com
amorano@satx.rr.com

Garnica: first in scoring; Lee: first in 26-5A

Free throw with 0.6 seconds left is difference in 58-57 win over Madison

by Mark Kusenberger
SAsports.com Senior Writer

Photos by Antonio Morano
SAsports.com Senior Photographer

Paul Garnica’s three-pointer with 6:40 left in the game was important. It broke a tie with West Campus’ Devin Brown and gave him the city’s career scoring record with 2767 points.

More important, perhaps, was point #2770, a free throw with 0.6 seconds left to break a tie and give Lee a 58-57 victory over the Madison Mavericks Friday night at Littleton Gym.

Almost lost in the hoopla over Garnica’s chase of Brown’s record was the fact that the game’s winner would take over first place in 26-5A. Lee (25-2, 5-1 in 26-5A) now leads Churchill (5-2) by one-half game and Madison (13-11, 4-2 in 26-5A) by one game in district play.

Garnica led off the scoring in characteristic fashion, sinking a long three-pointer in the face of tight defense. Then Madison used their height advantage early to build a 13-10 lead, led by Phillip Brown’s six points. Lee closed the quarter on a 6-0 run, including four points by Garnica, and led 16-13 after one.

Emilio Trejo kept the Mavericks in the ballgame with nine second quarter points, including seven during a 10-0 run that briefly gave Madison at 27-25 lead. Garnica sank another three to put Lee back ahead; Madison tied the game twice more in the half before Jeremy McCracken’s ice-water-in-his-veins driving layup with 2 seconds left gave Lee a 34-32 lead at the half.

Garnica’s 15 first half points left him four short of the record. His free throw on a three-point play tied him with Devin Brown midway through the third quarter, then Garnica, conscious that the Madison defense was fixated on him, found Michael McPherson wide open for an easy layup. Lee held Madison to seven third quarter points, and led 43-39 after three.

Garnica’s record breaker came in transition after Trejo found Tyler Wood for a basket to make it Lee 45, Madison 44. In the blink, Garnica was across halfcourt, open for an NBA-length three. When it went in, the crowd roared their appreciation, and Lee head coach Tommy Hines called a 30-second timeout, allowing the fans to savor the moment.

Of course, in the midst of all this, Madison was still trying to win the game. After another Garnica three, Madison went on a 6-0 run to tie the game at 54; the run featured a pair of Lee three-point attempts from the right corner which were swatted by Madison defenders into the seats, and was capped by a tying putback from Wood with 2:59.

With the ball back, Lee went to a stall, then a four-corners offense. After two minutes were drained off the clock, Garnica found Abel Mota again in the right corner. This time, Mota was wide open, and he sank a go-ahead three.

Madison responded quickly with a layup from Andre Scott, then Wood stole a baseline pass with 36.9 seconds left. Wood got open under the basket and received the pass; while he couldn’t make the layup, he drew Michael McPherson’s fifth foul, and went to the line with 13.6 seconds left and a chance to put Madison in the lead.

Wood missed the first free throw, but made the second to tie it at 57. After a foul in the backcourt turned the ball over from Lee to Madison, Lee got the ball back, and Garnica drove to the hoop, drawing a foul. Initially, the foul appeared to be at the buzzer, but the officials put 0.6 seconds back on the clock.

Garnica missed the first free throw, but made the second, and Lee was ahead once more 58-57. Trejo’s three-quarter-court inbound pass went to Jamal Johnson at the left wing; although he didn’t field the pass cleanly, he still managed to guide the ball to the backboard, stopping heartbeats throughout the gym.

But Johnson missed, and Lee won.

A post game ceremony honored Garnica. North East Associate Athletic Director Karen Funk presented the game ball to Garnica and Hines. It was announced that the game ball will be set aside until the end of the season, when it will be inscribed with Garnica’s final career point totals and put on display at the Lee gymnasium.

In the fall of 2006, Lee coach Tommy Hines decided to put a freshman named Paul Garnica on the varsity, seeing – sensing – that Garnica had a special talent that could lead to great things for himself and the program.

At the time, Lee had a downtrodden basketball program that hadn’t made the playoffs since 1992, so almost nobody noticed.

On January 8th, 2010, after a thrilling victory, the Lee Volunteers were 25 and 2, state ranked, and alone in first place in a district which has sent three teams to the state tournament in the last five years. And Garnica had scored more points than any high school basketball player in the history of San Antonio.

On this date, when Garnica hugged his head coach after accepting the game ball celebrating the record, an entire city noticed.

They noticed. And they applauded. And they cheered.

MADISON SCORING: Topher Campbell 14, Emilio Trejo 11, Jamal Johnson 9, Tyler Wood 9, Andre Scott 8, Philip Brown 6, Ron Olmos 2, Jacob Petry, John Davidson

LEE SCORING: Paul Garnica 25, Michael McPherson 13, Jeremy McCracken 8, Abel Mota 6, George Cardenas 3, Rudy DeLeon 3, Joe Uribe, Chris Canedo, Jose Chapa

More photos are available for viewing:
www.moranomemories.photoreflect.com
amorano@satx.rr.com