TEXARKANA, Texas — Liberty-Eylau had a great start, but Pleasant Grove finished strong and went on to a 71-61 victory in a cross-town rivalry, District 15-4A varsity boys basketball game at Hawk Gym on Friday.

 

"In the first half, they were making everything and we were not," Hawks head coach Dwight McCowan said. "The difference this year is that we just play with a lot of heart, and we just grinded them out. The two freshmen played huge and brought a lot of energy in the second half. We started to go on runs and the two freshmen really stepped up.

"All classes included, we are 6-0 against them this year. We are happy and blessed to be 6-0 in district. We are still in the driver's seat, every team will give us their best shot and we have to keep responding."

 

Pleasant Grove (13-5, 6-0) freshman Torion Phillips finished with 12 points, while freshman teammate Ahkhari Johnson scored seven points.

 

"We played hard," Leopard head coach Dewaski Davis said. "We just got a little impatient when the game got tight. We just need to keep playing good while holding our composure a little bit better. Defensively, we did a heckuva job early as well as taking care of the basketball and scoring."

 

Accurate shooting was showcased as Pleasant Grove hit 26 of 53 shots (49 percent), and Liberty-Eylau (2-11, 2-4) connected on 21 of 47 shots (45 percent).

The Hawks had 17 turnovers, while the Leopards had 20. Pleasant Grove outrebounded Liberty-Eylau, 32-26.

 

Torey Phillips finished with a double-double for the Hawks with 10 points and 10 boards. T'vondrick Henry led all scorers with 18 points for Pleasant Grove.

 

Tykylan Hampton led Liberty-Eylau with 16 points, Tahj Stewart had 14 and Shaun White finished with 10. Pharell Thurman led the Leopards in rebounding with seven.

 

Brett Carmony hit a trey at the start of the fourth to knot the game at 54-all for the Hawks. Carmony hit another shot from downtown to give Pleasant Grove its first lead of the game, 57-54. The Hawks never lost the lead again. Carmony finished with 11 points.

 

Pleasant Grove outscored Liberty-Eylau in the third quarter, 18-12, which cut the Leopard lead to three, 54-51. Henry had six points in the quarter to lead the Hawks, while Thurman paced L-E with six in the quarter.

The Leopards went into the locker room with a 42-33 lead at the half.

Each team played on near even terms in the second quarter with the Hawks narrowly outscoring Liberty-Eylau, 21-20.

 

Shaun White drove inside and hit a layup for the Leopards to start the second. After Tre Stuart hit a 12-foot jump shot for Pleasant Grove, teammate Henry broke free off a turnover and emphatically slammed the ball home.

Liberty-Eylau answered each PG score in the second quarter. Stuart converted a traditional 3-point play in the quarter for the Hawks.

 

Tykylan Hampton and Stewart each sunk shots from downtown for the Leopards in the second.

Liberty-Eylau started the game off on an 8-2 spurt. The Leopards shot perfectly from the free-throw line in the first, going 6 for 6.

Stewart scored seven points, including a trey, for L-E in the first quarter, while teammate Keeunue Shepard also knocked down a shot from 3-point land.

Dawson Anderson poured in 17 points as the Hawks won the junior varsity game, 69-40. Jaylen Boardley contributed 13 for PG, while Koente Brewer swished in 17 for the Leopards.