Plano East keeps perfect season alive, eliminates Mansfield Lake Ridge in state semifinal

Mansfield Lake Ridge entered their first state final in program history looking to secure a massive upset.

The Eagles fell short in their quest, falling 61-45 to No. 1 Plano East at the Alamodome on Friday. Plano East (39-0) will play in the Class 6A state championship at 8:30 on Saturday.

Plano East made its second state appearance with the last one coming during the 1994 season. The Panthers have never won a state championship and are now one win away from making program history.

If victorious on Saturday, Plano East will complete a perfect season in Texas high school basketball’s largest classification. The last school to do that was Duncanville in the 2007 season.

Lake Ridge’s Amir McMillan, a 247Sports three star guard, led the Eagles with 18 points. His spectacular individual effort, however, was not enough for Lake Ridge (32-7) to advance.

Although the Panthers didn’t always capitalize, they thoroughly dominated the rebounding battle. Plano East tallied 20 offensive rebounds to Lake Ridge’s nine and won the total rebounding battle 40-22, which created more scoring opportunities.

Lake Ridge is normally a patient team that loves to share the basketball but Plano East’s defense smothered ball handlers. The Eagles finished with only three assists in the ballgame.

The first quarter saw Plano East tally nine offensive rebounds. The Panthers couldn’t capitalize, shooting 20% from the field and failing to score over a Lake Ridge defense that tallied four blocks.

McMillan had a big third quarter with three made field goals. He controlled the pace of the Eagle offense, taking matters into his own hands when needed.

Senior guard Narit Chotikavanich was the only Panther to shoot 50% or higher in the first half and powered his team to a 26-22 halftime lead with two 3-pointers and a pair of free throws.

Plano East senior Jon Tran, in the third quarter, extended his team’s lead with two 3-pointers. Although the Panther offense was inefficient at first it became more productive as the game continued.

Plano East kept a steady lead in the fourth quarter despite Lake Ridge’s effort to push the pace. The Eagles had 10 second half turnovers, failing to make the best of ultra important possessions.

Plano East junior DJ Hall was semi contained by the Eagle defense and had seven turnovers, but the 6-foot-6 star forward still scored a team high 15 points. Another key contributor for Plano East was Jordan Mizell, who scored 13 points on nine shots.