Athens High School on March 4, 2022 -
The Timpson Bears varsity basketball team were eliminated from the Texas Class 2A UIL State Basketball Playoffs after an 70-69 point elimination loss to the LaPoynor Flyers. Timpson was ranked the number 4 team in Texas and LaPoynor came into the playoffs as the number 10 seed.
The regional semifinal game came down to the final buzzer in the late stages. The Bears held a 69-64 advantage with 40 seconds left in the contest but a 3-pointer and a tip-in by the Flyer’s Kase Johnston tied the game at 69-69 with 16 seconds remaining.
The Bears kept fighting but lost possession on an end-line infraction which gave the Flyers the ball with 3.8 seconds left in the contest. Flyer Dijuan Whitehead later sank a free-throw which proved to be the difference in the contest.
The Bears were able to quickly move the ball downcourt and attempted to hit a game winner at the buzzer but the attempt missed.
The Bears season ends with a 25-5 win-loss record. Timpson’s Terry Bussey led the Bears with 26 points, Braden Courtney scored 15, Hunter Tipton 11, LT Washington 6, JJ Garner 4, Donovan Crocket and Jackson Campbell each had three and Vosky Howard scored one.
Head Coach Alex Cloudy's staff and the team had their work cut out for them as they started basketball preparations in mid December due to advancing to the State Semifinal round of the football playoffs. Hard work by the Bears and plenty of talent placed them in a position to be in this playoff which literally could have swung either way.
LaPoynor was led by Kase Johnston with 21 and Dijuan Whitehead with 18.
The Flyers are 32-6 and they advance to play Beckville in the regional final at Athens on Saturday, March 5, 2022 at 1 p.m. The winner will next play at the San Antonio Alamodome in the Texas UIL Basketball State Semifinals next Friday.
