Silsbee's late run brings end to Randall's season

SAN ANTONIO – It doesn’t take long for Silsbee to convert a turnover or a missed shot into two points.

Randall had too many of both Friday, allowing the Tigers to pull away for a 75-68 victory in the Class 4A state semifinals at the Alamodome.

Silsbee advances to play either Stafford or Oak Cliff Faith Family at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Randall’s season ends in the state semifinals for a second consecutive season. The Raiders finished with a 34-4 record.

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A chance to tie

Silsbee built a 9-point lead midway through the fourth quarter, but Randall managed to get back within striking distance, trailing 71-68 with 56 seconds remaining.

Coming out of a Randall timeout, Tayesen Combs stole Silsbee’s inbounds pass from underneath Randall’s basket. Randall worked the ball around the perimeter, looking for an open shot.

KJ Thomas took a deep 3 that bounced on the rim twice before falling off. Silsbee’s Jared Harris pulled the rebound, and in classic Silsbee fashion, the Tigers quickly got into transition with Lamarcus Bottley Jr. making a layup with 23 seconds left that all but ended Randall’s comeback hopes.

“I knew I wanted to take that shot,” said Thomas, a UTEP signee who led Randall with 19 points. “I guess we gotta live off of the results that came with it, but I’ll take that shot 10 times out of 10.”

Off to the races

Any time they touch the ball, the Tigers are ready to run, including on turnovers and defensive rebounds.

That was illustrated by the 21 fast break points and 21 points off turnovers the Tigers scored. They also scored 52 points in the paint, furthering their desire to get shots underneath the bucket.

It’s a style that didn’t intimidate Randall, considering the Raiders also like to get up and down the court at a hastened pace. Even so, the Raiders were forced to adjust to Silsbee’s speed on the fly.

“That’s our style, too. We want to get up in their face with as much pressure as possible,” Randall coach Trevor Johnson said. “It didn’t catch us by surprise how fast they are in transition, but we had to learn different ways to get back quicker after that first quarter.

“I thought we executed better toward the end of the game, but give credit to (Silsbee coach Joe Sigler), they’re a great team, and they really pushed the tempo. They want to get downhill fast , and they executed it a few times against us tonight.”

Harris, a Memphis signee, turned two steals into highlight-reel two-handed jams. He had 21 points. Bottley Jr.led the Tigers with 23 points.

Randall did have its own success in transition with 16 fast break points and 14 points off turnovers. Tayesen Combs got hot shooting from behind the arc, making four 3-pointers on his way to an 18-point performance. Devin Baccas fouled out of the game but scored 16 points, including 10 in the first half.

This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Randall vs. Silsbee Class 4A boys basketball state semifinal game