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Return trip booked: West Mesquite on its way to back to regional tournament after knocking off Woodrow Wilson
By DEVIN HASSON, dhasson@starlocalnews.com
DALLAS--Tuesday night was truly about rising to the occasion for West Mesquite.
At various points, different Wranglers made huge, season-saving plays and that is why they are around to play another day.
One year after making it to the regional tournament for the first time in school history, West Mesquite is headed back after pulling out a 58-56 victory on Tuesday in a Class 4A Region II quarterfinal game at Ellis Davis Field House.
The game featured seven ties and 11 lead changes as neither team could shake the other for four quarters and much of the overtime.
Woodrow Wilson had a chance in the final seconds down only 55-53 but West Mesquite came up with the takeaway and Jordan Johnson, who had 11 points, converted it into a three-point play at the other end.
With just over a second left, those points proved to be big, as the Wildcats' Trey Washington heaved one in from beyond midcourt as time expired to provide the final margin.
The Wranglers led 35-34 through three quarters when Braylon Rayson, who was quiet up until that point, hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give them their biggest lead of the game at that point at 41-36.
Woodrow Wilson kept pounding, though, and Chance Houston, who had 20 points to lead all scorers, hit a pair of free throws with 1:27 left to give them a 45-43 advantage.
That lead did not last long, as Rayson got free inside for a layup that sent the game to overtime tied at 45-45.
At the beginning of the extra period, it was Jalen Etienne's turn to shine. Etienne is no stranger to the big stage after hitting the game-winner against Lancaster in last year's regional quarterfinal round and he knocked down a trey to start the overtime and then made a twisting layup to give the Wranglers a 50-46 lead.
Woodrow Wilson was down 54-49 with 1:12 left, but made a frantic final push. With the help of a couple of missed free throws by West Mesquite, the Wildcats drew to within 54-51 on a putback by Kerwin Smth and then stole the inbound pass, leading to a layup by Washington to trim the lead to one.
But Rayson hit one of two at the free throw line at the other end and Johnson was able to convert the three-point play to render Washington's last-second, half-court bomb meaningless.
For all the heroics late, none of it would have been possible without the play from start to finish of Nate Davis.
Woodrow Wilson entered the game with a big size advantage, led by the 6-8 Smith, but its height was neutralized for much of the night with the 6-0 Davis leading the defensive charge.
While his teammates were trying to find their range, Davis also provided punch offensively, scoring 11 points in the first half to keep the Wranglers within 28-24.
Davis, who finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds, also had a layup in the final seconds of the third quarter to give West Mesquite a 35-34 lead.
Follow Devin Hasson on Twitter: @DevinHasson
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