Wolverines claim tourney title in Texas

ALLEN, Texas—Lawton High School’s boy’s basketball team jumped in against some of the best teams in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and came away with a championship trophy in the Allen Holliday In-N-Out Invitational.

The Wolverines beat Plano High, 60-40, in the first round and Mesquite Horn, 69-51, in its second game Friday morning.

Then LHS came back later Friday to beat Mount Pleasant High School, 68-57, Friday in the semifinals. They beat Frisco Lone Star High School, 68-65, Saturday afternoon in the finals of their bracket.

The tournament included more than 50 top programs from across Texas.

“The starting point guard at Allen is Nehmiah Lawrence who I became friends with and he talked to their coach and we got invited,” LHS Coach Chevis Smith said. “They’ve already invited us back for next year.”

The Wolverines had won the Waste Solutions Invitational earlier this month and were still working to get their offense going and they put together four good games to get their title.

“This was just a great team effort,” Smith said. “Pene (Vasiagote), Tavarious (Deans), Champ Brewer, (Braeden) Burrell; everyone did their job and made plays when we needed them.

“Our scoring was balanced and the guys took care of the ball and we played great pressure defense. Those are things we’ve been working on. These last four games our guys have been executing the offense well and it’s showing.”

The Wolverines climbed to 12-1, the lone loss coming against Class 4A power Weatherford by a 55-47 score in the SOS Showcase in Oklahoma City on Dec. 21.

“We are just trying to keep getting better and better as the season moves forward,” Coach Smith said. “We don’t want to peak too early because it’s a long season.”

The Wolverines will return to action Jan. 7 when they visit Del City for a district contest.