AZLE — Fueled by sophomore point guard Court Gaylor and junior post Darius Steed, who combined for 46 points on the night, the Lipan boys basketball team locked up its 16th trip to the state semifinals Friday with a 71-52 win over Lindsay in the Region II-2A Division II title game at the Azle High School Competition Gym.
Gaylor poured in a game-high 28 points while Steed ruled the paint with 18 of his own to lead the Indians, who closed the first quarter on a 15-6 run and opened the second with a 19-5 spurt to turn an early one-point deficit into a 42-18 lead by the two minute mark of the first half.
From there, it was academic as LHS cruised to its fifth consecutive state appearance and seventh since 2017 — a stretch that has seen the Indians claim four state championships, including each of the past two in Class 2A.
“I’m very proud of them,” coach Brent Gaylor said. “We’re a very fundamental team and have got a lot of different kids that can do a lot of different things. I was very proud of our shot selection that first half. We took high-percentage shots, and we talk about it all the time, when we wait and take those high-percentage shots that they give you, we’re pretty good.
“I think there was only about twice where we kind of forced a quick shot that I wasn’t very happy with, but I thought our first-half offensive efficiency was really good.”
The Indians, who led 23-13 after a quarter and 47-24 at halftime, set a scorching offensive pace out of the gate, moving the ball with pinpoint precision to get open looks both inside and on the perimeter.
Lindsay managed to keep up early, holding an 8-7 lead three minutes into the game. But Lipan (33-4) quickly separated from there, scoring 14 of the next 16 points to build a double-digit cushion it would protect the rest of the way.
Court Gaylor and the 6-foot-6 Steed made sure of that, scoring 20 and 10 first-half points, respectively, to help the Indians all but put the game away by the halftime break.
With help from teammates Brayden Harrison (9 points), Evan Lott (7 points) and Billy Smith (7 points), the dynamic duo spearheaded a balanced attack inside and out that the smaller Knights had no answer for throughout the night.
“Darius has been a big part of what we do offensively and defensively, and we thought we had a pretty good size advantage inside,” Coach Gaylor said. “We were able to get him a couple of deep touches, and when he can catch the ball down there in the paint, he’s pretty stinking good a lot of times.
“Fortunately, we were able to get him the ball in there, and we’ve got some guards who can shoot it and played pretty good, so that kind of keeps (the defense) honest. We try to attack them on the outside and inside, and the guys did a great job just like they have all year of executing our game plan and playing Lipan basketball.”
Leading by 24 at halftime, LHS maintained its edge through the third quarter, outscoring Lindsay 13-12 to add another point to its lead, before getting reserves some playing time in the final period.
Lindsay, which got 17 points from Nate Klement and 12 from Davin Meurer, outscored the Indians 16-11 in the fourth quarter, but the Knights (23-12) never got closer to the lead than the game’s 19-point final margin.
Every player on the Lipan roster got in the game in what was a complete team effort for the Indians.
“We’re a team in every sense of the word,” the LHS coach said. “I love it when one of them makes a pass for an assist and everybody’s not celebrating the guy who scored but they’re celebrating the guy who made that playmaking pass. That says a lot about these guys and how much they love each other and care for each other.
“For the most part, they don’t care who scores. They just want to come out here and get a win. That’s what’s important to us.”
And Friday’s win, in particular was a big one because it earned Lipan yet another trip to the state semifinals — a significant achievement for a team with two freshmen and six sophomores on its roster and no seniors in its primary rotation.
The youthful Indians now have the opportunity to earn their fifth consecutive trip to the Alamodome when they take on New Home (31-5) in the semifinals at 6:30 p.m. Monday at Abilene Christian University.
“It’s a blessing,” Coach Gaylor said. “We say every year that we want to play basketball in March. We want to be a part of true March Madness. The calendar fell a little weird this year. Usually the regional final’s in March, but (the first is) not until tomorrow. One of the guys on the bench said, “Coach, we get to play in March.” We talk about that a bunch, and that’s a big deal because any time you play in March, you’ve had a special season.
“We’re going to have our hands full on Monday. New Home’s a great team. We’ve played them the last two years in the semifinals, and it’s going to be a battle. But we’re going to lace it up and give it our best shot again.”
REGION II-2A DIV. II CHAMPIONSHIP
LIPAN 71, LINDSAY 52
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final | ||
| Lindsay | 13 | 11 | 12 | 16 | — | 52 |
| Lipan | 23 | 24 | 13 | 11 | — | 71 |
Lindsay (23-12) — Davin Meurer 5 0-0 12, Lane Foster 1 1-2 3, Nate Klement 5 7-10 17, Isaac Fuhrmann 1 0-0 2, Winston Fleitman 2 0-0 5, Joe Manhart 3 1-2 9, Noah Klement 0 2-2 2, Zach Metzler 0 2-2 2, Cody Williford 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 13-18 52.
Lipan (33-4) — Evan Lott 3 1-2 7, Brayden Harrison 4 0-0 9, Payton Cornelius 1 0-0 2, Court Gaylor 11 3-4 28, Darius Steed 9 0-2 18, Tucker Tims 0 0-0 0, Michael Bolfing 0 0-0 0, Colby Scott 0 0-0 0, Dante Steed 0 0-0 0, Dillon Hall 0 0-0 0, Billy Smith 2 1-2 7, Wyatt Yates 0 0-0 0. Totals 30 5-10 71.
3-Point Goals — Lindsay 5 (Meurer 2, Fleitman 1, Manhart 2); Lipan 6 (Harrison 1, Gaylor 3, Smith 2). Fouled Out — None. Technical Fouls — None. Total Fouls — Lindsay 13; Lipan 16.