Plano East, Mansfield Lake Ridge face off in boys' basketball state semifinal
DALLAS - The Plano East boys’ basketball team has a chance to make history at the UIL state tournament this weekend. But they’ll have to get past Mansfield Lake Ridge first.
The Plano East Panthers are looking to become the first-ever undefeated state champions in the UIL’s 6A classification.
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The players and their coach said it’s been a remarkable season, and they don’t want it to end.
"It’s really special. It's something that we brought the community together, something I’ve never seen," said Plano East guard Jon Tran.
"Creating history. We want to do that, you know. We want to go 40-0," said guard Narit Chotikavanic.
"A lot of families are coming together for this the way you would in the holidays. And so it’s been neat watching all of that," added head coach Matt Webster.
The Panthers are favored to win but will have a hard fight.
Mansfield Lake Ridge heads to UIL basketball semifinal
The Lake Ridge Eagles in Mansfield are looking to do something special. They are just two wins away from the first state title in a team sport in the school's history. They got a big sendoff Thursday morning as they headed to San Antonio for their semifinal basketball game against Plano East.
Lake Ridge is 32-6 on the season and looking for the first state title in a team sport in the school’s history.
The Lake Ridge Eagles have had a tremendous season in which they have surprised pretty much everyone with the quality of their play and how far they’ve advanced in the playoffs.
The players got an enthusiastic sendoff from the student body on Thursday morning.
"We're coming in aggressive, coming in hungry. We just wanna like be the best that we can and shock the world," said Lake Ridge senior guard Kenny White. "We just gotta come in relaxed, play our game and then we’re going to do a good job."
The semifinal matchup starts at 7 p.m. on Friday at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
Other North Texas teams in the tournament include Ponder in Class 3A, Oak Cliff Faith Family in Class 4A and Lancaster in Class 5A.