East feasts on Rowlett: Panthers avenge early-season loss with 33-point blowout

RICHARDSON -- Of the Plano East boys basketball team's five losses, Rowlett (25-4) was the very first squad to deal the Panthers a defeat back on Dec. 1.

A lot has changed since then.

The Panthers (28-5) returned the favor Friday in an area playoff tilt and did so emphatically, battering the Eagles, 79-46, at Richardson Berkner.

"Everyone was against us," said Pat Birt, East senior. "People were saying we couldn't shoot or we couldn't play defense. That motivated us to go even harder and we knew if we pressured them that it'd be harder for them to do what they wanted to do."

The Panthers orchestrated a blitzkrieg of suffocating defense and efficient offense, taking the Eagles by force in the closing minute of the first quarter. Birt threw down a dunk and senior Xavier Smith scored on a putback to put East up, 11-8, after one frame.

It would be the last time Rowlett remained within one possession of the Panthers, who shifted gears in the second stanza and outscored the Eagles, 24-9.

"We just played loose and we hadn't done that the past two games," said Jeff Clarkson, East head coach. "We talked about playing hard defensively, rebounding the basketball and not worrying about the offense.

"We did that and took it at them."

Initially befuddled by Rowlett's zone for three turnovers in its first three possessions of the game, East adjusted in the second and gashed the Eagles in the paint.

Attacking the middle of the defense, Smith glided in for a layup, Birt sunk a handful of floaters and senior Marcus Mathieu connected on pull-up jumpers in transition.

"[Rowlett] ran that zone against us the first time we played them," Clarkson said. "I even said going into the first game that we weren't ready to see that. These guys have grown a lot as players and we were ready for that this time."

Birt scored 10 of his game-high 23 points in the second to go along with six boards, three assists and four steals. Mathieu added 15 points while senior Sawyer Kipp chipped in 11.

The Panthers spearheaded a 10-0 surge midway through the quarter that ballooned the lead to 35-17 by halftime.

Rowlett never recovered.

"We weren't running anything on offense," said Stan Blackmon, Rowlett head coach. "It was a lot of one pass and shoot. That wasn't in our plans and we didn't give our offense a chance to breathe and they capitalized."

Any Rowlett offense was made all the more difficult given the defensive attention dealt the way of seniors Jeffrey Carroll and Nathan Hawkins. Two scorers who have combined for 38.7 points and 13.8 rebounds per game, Carroll and Hawkins were blanketed by Birt and senior Jarvis Pugh, being limited to just 20 combined points (Carroll with 11 and Hawkins with nine) and one rebound in the loss.

East outrebounded Rowlett, 27-10.

The Panthers' defense never wavered, with the third quarter just as unkind to Rowlett. Despite East committing nine fouls and turning the ball over seven times, the Panthers still outscored the Eagles, 19-14.

A late 3-pointer by Hawkins marked a 7-0 run by Rowlett to close the quarter and trim the Eagles' deficit to 54-31, but any prayer of a miracle fourth went out the window after East opened the final frame with eight unanswered points. The Panthers led by as many as 37 points, even after emptying its bench midway through the fourth, with senior David Havala, juniors Robel Yoseph and Zach Smith getting in late.

The loss marked Rowlett's worst since Jan. 12, 2010 and ended the No. 13 team in 5A's season.

"It was revenge," Birt said. "[Rowlett] beat us last time and they thought they could do it again and that pushed us. We got our revenge and it was sweet."

East earns a spot in the regional quarterfinals Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. from Plano Senior where it'll meet Richardson, which ousted Mesquite, 50-48, Friday on a half-court buzzer beater.

For continued news and coverage on the local sports scene, follow @MWelchSCN on Twitter.

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