.March 13, 2004, 12:43AM
McClellan lifts Milby into final
Buffs face Cedar Hill tonight
By SARAH HORNADAY
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle
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Andrew Innerarity / Chronicle
Klein Collins (left to right) Ryan Matizza, Paul Tilton and Chase Fullbright watch from the bench Friday night during the final minutes as Milby raced to the Class 5A final. |
AUSTIN -- Milby preached all year long that it's not just a one-man show starring McDonald's All-American Jawann McClellan. This is true, but it would be hard to make 9,457 fans watching Friday at the Erwin Center believe that.
The final score of the University Interscholastic League state semifinal was Milby 85, Klein Collins 62. But it was McClellan and his game-high 24 points that beat Klein Collins.
"Great players, just like cream, rise to the top," Milby coach Jim Duffer said. "He showed what a great player he is."
Milby (38-0) advanced to today's Class 5A final against Cedar Hill (35-1), which will be telecast on FSN starting at 8 p.m. The Buffs, ranked No. 4 by USA Today, are trying to become the state's first undefeated Class 5A state champion since San Antonio East Central did it in 1995.
The Buffs will have to slow down Missouri signee Jason Horton and the rest of the Longhorns, who are ranked No. 8 by USA Today. The senior point guard scored a game-high 28 points in Cedar Hill's 82-65 semifinal win over Victoria Memorial (33-6).
Horton lit up the scoreboard but didn't put on the show McClellan did.
The Arizona signee finished with 24 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals. The senior got most of his points on fast breaks, with wide-open dunks or a little help from point guard Tramaine Webster with the alley-oop dunks.
"That's just a little backdoor play we have," Webster said. "He showed up big time, and we really needed him. We talked about starting off strong and not looking back."
The Buffs witnessed Class 4A Jones and McDonald's All-American guard Daniel Gibson getting shut down in Thursday's state semifinals. Jones won, but Gibson, a Texas signee, was aggressively defended and held to eight points -- all scored in the first quarter. McClellan sought Gibson's advice for the 5A semifinals.
"He told me to come out and be aggressive," McClellan said. "There's a lot of pressure on both of us. We're All-Americans, and people want to see what you can do."
McClellan didn't hold back in the first half, scoring 21 of his 24 points. He almost single-handedly beat Klein Collins (26-11) in the first half as Milby went into halftime leading 40-24.
"He was more active on the defensive end than we expected," Klein Collins coach Tim Schumacher said. "We knew it would be hard to stop Jawann. We got this far playing man-to-man, that's our identity. We didn't want to change. But you have to give Jawann credit. He played a great game tonight."
Klein Collins' biggest highlights came in the game's first four minutes as the Tigers took a 9-4 lead.
McClellan personally took care of sparking Milby. His first basket with 5:58 left in the first quarter was an alley-oop, cutting Klein Collins' lead to 7-4. Klein Collins' Corban Bates, who led the Tigers with 15 points and 11 rebounds, made two free throws to push the lead back to five points with 4:35 left before McClellan started a 16-2 run.
The Tigers shifted their focus to McClellan, and teammate Chris Jordan made Klein Collins pay by knocking down consecutive 3-pointers.
Players like Jordan and John Williams, who came off the bench and combined for 32 points and 11 rebounds, are Milby's strength. Though McClellan gave Klein Collins a battle in the first half, the rest of the team combined for the knockout.
Klein Collins, playing in its second varsity season and first state semifinal, never regrouped. The usual sharp-shooting team shot 31 percent from the field. The Tigers couldn't even make a fresh start in the second half, making only two of its first 16 attempts.
"We weren't making big shots, but a lot of that was Milby," Schumacher said.
