Late 3-pointer lifts Tomball past Cy Springs 69-68

For Coach Brad Ball and the Tomball Cougars, the Katy ISD Basketball Tournament just seems to be a place where his team has had a relative amount of success in past years.

Things are shaping up to be that way once more after the Cougars topped Cy-Springs 69-68 in the tournament's opening round Thursday at Cinco Ranch High School. Senior Jordan Leslie nailed one of his six 3-point baskets with less than three seconds left.

“I think we give our guys the freedom to shoot the ball and we don't really get on them for misses,” Ball said. “We really only get on them for a mental or physical lack of effort and as long they know they have the freedom to shoot, I think the basket gets a little bit bigger and that they shoot it with a little bit more confidence and today we shot it well.”

Another one of those players who shot it well was junior Marque Booker who finished with 14 points, including a crucial fourth quarter 3-pointer to keep the Cougars in the game.

“We practice shooting the ball a lot and the bench was really into the game and that helped us down the stretch,” Booker said “Coach always tells us not to give up and we never gave up.”

Tomball finished as the tournament runners-up in 2007 and again fell short in the final game last year. Those teams were chock full of seniors and Leslie is one of just three players returning from a team that won District 13-5A and made it to the third round of the playoffs in 2008.

After losing a nine-point lead in the third quarter and trailing by one, Leslie scored 10 straight points, including 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions. Cy Springs went ahead 68-66 after a beautifully executed inbounds play to Marquel McKinney. Following a time out, Tomball executed a play of its own, after a pass fake took defenders away from Leslie freeing him up on the right wing for the game's decisive basket.

“Once it left my hand, I knew it was going in,” said Leslie who finished with a game-high 26 points. We practice hard every day and we came together as a team. My teammates got me open and got me in the position to take that shot.”

Although Thursday's close win can prove to be beneficial in the long run for a young Tomball team, Ball isn't really concerned with wins and losses at this point.

“I hope this win does two things: I hope it helps understand that trying to do what we ask them to do is a good thing. And most importantly, giving a great effort regardless of the score is a really big factor at the varsity level.”