Class 6A Region I

Lake Highlands 63, North Crowley 43

FORT WORTH — Tre Johnson had to lean in to make out questions from reporters. The sound of a classroom’s worth of elementary school children — all chanting “we want Tre” — drowned out any other noise at the Wilkerson-Greines Activity Center on Friday night.

Such is life for one of the country’s best high school basketball players, So, too, was his play.

Johnson, a five-star recruit and the nation’s top-ranked junior, scored a team-high 23 points in Lake Highlands’ 63-43 win over North Crowley in the 6A Region I semifinals. Senior Quinton Perkins added 13 points for Lake Highlands (31-3), which won its 21st game in a row.

“Whatever opportunity opens up for me, I’m going to take it,” said Johnson, whose masterful ball handling and footwork helped him create shots against a tough North Crowley defense.

Lake Highlands — ranked No. 1 in the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches statewide 6A poll and No. 23 in ESPN’s national boys basketball rankings — will play either Trophy Club Byron Nelson or Hebron in Saturday’s regional championship. It’ll be Lake Highlands’ first trip to a regional final since 1968, when it won the 3A state title.

Related:2023 UIL boys basketball regional tournament pairings: See schedule for Dallas-area teams

Lake Highlands led 13-6 after one quarter, and held North Crowley (31-7) to more turnovers (five) than field goals (one) in the game’s first eight minutes. North Crowley improved its defense at the point of attack in the second and found offensive success with drives to the rim early in its possession, but still trailed by five at half.

Led by 14 points from Johnson, Lake Highlands outscored North Crowley 39-24 in the second half.

— Shawn McFarland

Class 6A Region II

DeSoto 34, Cypress Falls 30

LUFKIN ­— Career coaching win No. 700 couldn’t have come at better time for DeSoto head coach Richard Bacon. And with the triumph coming over No. 25 Cypress Falls in the Class 6A Region II Semifinal in the Panther Activity Center Friday night, it couldn’t have tasted sweeter for his 16th-ranked Eagle squad.

DeSoto will advance to Saturday afternoon’s Region II championship contest at 1 p.m. against the survivor of Friday’s late game between Mansfield Lake Ridge (25-9) and Klein Oak (23-12).

“(Cy Falls) had a lot of size and we knew (Joseph Tugler) was going to be tough inside,” Bacon said after the game. “But we won the game on the defensive end in the second quarter and that was the difference in the game.

“And that made win No. 700 even sweeter.”

District 16-6A champion Cy Falls led early on and then fell behind 9-8 at the end of the first period. But DeSoto put on the defensive pressure in the second quarter, finishing the period with five takeaways, while forcing 10 first-half turnovers to move out in front 20-12 at the break.

DeSoto’s Deshawn Crawford scored six of his 10 points in the second half, while Jaxson Davis continually pushed the ball in the paint, finishing the game as the second-leading scorer with 12 points, including 6-of-11 from the charity stripe.

Arrington Cooper added eight points — all coming in the first half.

Tugler was held to 10 points, with only four coming in the second half when Cy Falls was held to three points in the third period and 14 for the half. Daylon Porter led all scorers in the game with 14 points.

Cy Falls fought foul trouble throughout, with Porter and Tugler picking up their second fouls in the second period, while Brayden Young received his third foul with 1:24 left in the half, before fouling out with 6:09 left.

Cy Falls tied the score twice in the fourth period, the final time coming at the 1:53 mark, 30-30. But Crawford hit a baseline jumper 19 seconds later and Cy Falls couldn’t get an open look down the stretch. Reid Meekins missed a desperation driving shot with four seconds left and Davis clinched the game with two free throws with 1.3 remaining.

— John Krueger

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