Panthers Advance to Round 2

Reviews with Rob

South Houston vs C.E. King

In the playoff matchup, we saw the district champion, South Houston Trojans, taking on the 4th seed, C.E. King Panthers. I knew going into this game that this would be an intense, defensive battle, where the first team to reach 60 points would probably prevail. Both teams started slow on the offensive end, as the first half wore on, ℅ 2025 W Christian Thomas, started to show why he is regarded as one of the top wings in this area. He would score from a plethora of areas with a solid offensive repertoire. Unsigned senior P Logan Alexander would also have some rim-rocking dunks and extraordinary blocks. ℅ 2027 P Xavier Muhammad would be a bright spot for South Houston, as he would go on to notch 5 points and 9 rebounds (6 offensive). Even with all of that production on the glass, South Houston would trail 26-16 at the half.

In the second half, unsigned senior G Josh Larry started to single-handedly carry the Trojans. He made multiple drives to the goal and finished layups with a high degree of difficulty. He also would start to bomb away from the outside as if he was starting to feel his senior year coming to a close. Upon South Houston going up 32-31, Coach Mobley for C.E. King called a timeout. He challenged his unsigned senior G J’Mar Franklin to play better and that’s exactly what he did. Franklin ignited a 9-0 run that would see the Panthers reclaim and retain the lead. ℅ 2025 G Jordan Buckner would hit some tough three-pointers in the final seconds of the game, but C.E. King would get their first playoff victory in years with a score of 58-50.

C.E. King was led by: J’Mar Franklin with 15 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists; Christian Thomas with 14 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 assists; Logan Alexander with 10 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 blocks

South Houston was led by: Josh Larry with 15 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists; Jordan Buckner with 14 points and 4 assists; Xavier Muhammad with 7 points and 13 rebounds