Texas high school boys basketball: Live score, UIL 1A/3A/5A state semifinal updates recap (3/7/2024)
EDITOR'S NOTE: Follow Texas (UIL) high school boys basketball championship updates live here.
Texas high school state boys basketball championship week tipped Thursday morning as the top high school basketball teams in Texas vie for UIL crowns at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
The 1A, 3A and 5A semifinals take place Thursday, 2A, 4A and 6A semifinals are Friday and all six UIL state championship games are set for Saturday.
Benjamin beat Gordon and Jayton boat-raced Fayetteville Thursday morning to advance to the Class 1A championship.
Holliday plays Ponder at 1:30 p.m. and Hitchcock faces San Antonio Cole at 3 p.m. in Class 3A, then San Antonio Veterans Memorial plays Killeen Ellison at 7 p.m. and Amarillo and Lancaster square off at 8:30 p.m. in Class 5A.
All games are being streamed on the NFHS Network (subscription required).
Scroll down for live score and game updates throughout Day 1 of the UIL state semifinals. Refresh the page for the latest.
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UIL STATE SEMIFINALS
CLASS 5A
5A CHAMPIONSHIP: Killeen Ellison vs. Lancaster, 3 p.m.
SAN ANTONIO VETERANS MEMORIAL VS. KILLEEN ELLISON (CLASS 5A)
Ahziel McIver scored 23 points and doled out five assists to lead hot-shooting Killeen Ellison past San Antonio Veterans Memorial. Ellison hit 8 of 12 3-point attempts and held Veterans to 37.5 percent shooting.
Veterans was led by Damarion Dennis' 19 points and 10 from Jionte Jones.
(FINAL) LANCASTER 44, AMARILLO 31
Dillon Battie and Deontrell Barrett scored 15 points apiece as Lancaster held Amarillo to 35.3 shooting — and 1 of 18 from 3-point range. Battie, a 6-foot-7 Temple commit, also had two steals and two blocks.
Braden Hausen led Amarillo with 14 points and Davis Sluder pulled down a team-high eight boards.
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CLASS 3A
3A CHAMPIONSHIP: Ponder vs. Hitchcock, Saturday, 10 a.m.
(FINAL) HITCHCOCK 57, SAN ANTONIO COLE 40
Elijah Sherwood scored 20 points and Lloyd Jones III added 17 points and 13 boards as Hitchcock suffocated Cole to advance to the 3A state finals.
Ajian Hasadinratana led Cole 16 points and also pulled down five rebounds. Kenny Atunrase finished with 10 boards.
(FINAL) PONDER 62, HOLLIDAY 46
Carter Eddy scored 18 points, Max Hutcherson added 15 and Timber Crider and Jace Sullivan scored 10 apiece to lead Ponder to a double-digit win over Holliday. The Lions face Hitchcock for the Class 3A title on Saturday at 10 a.m.
Ashtyn Berry (21 points) and Keitenn Bristow (20) accounted for all but five of Holliday's points.
4Q GAME THREAD
-- Consecutive buckets for Holliday to pull within 11, first a second-chance bucket from Grant Cox, then an Ashtyn Berry jumper.
-- Jace Sullivan opens the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer to push Ponder's lead to a game-high 15 points.
IN-GAME RECAP
Eddy Carter has a game-high 16 points with four 3-pointers on six attempts to help Ponder out to as big as an 11-point third quarter lead in the first of two 3A semifinal games.
While both teams are shooting at least 52 percent from the field, Ponder has hit 8 of 16 field goal attempts to stay ahead.
Ashytn Berry has 13 points to lead Holliday.
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CLASS 1A
1A CHAMPIONSHIP: Benjamin vs. Jayton, Saturday, 8:30 a.m.
(FINAL) JAYTON 65, FAYETTEVILLE 26
Sean Stanaland notched a near triple-double — 32 points, nine boards and seven assists — and was the lone Jayton player in double-figures scoring in a blowout win over Fayetteville to advance to Saturday's 1A championship.
Jayton grew a seven-point halftime lead to 13 at the end of the third quarter, then blew the game open by outscoring Fayetteville 29-3 in the fourth.
Easton Jager led the Lions, who were held to a frigid 16 percent shooting performance, in scoring with 10 points.
(FINAL) BENJAMIN 75, GORDON 58
Small-school phenom Grayson Rigdon finished with 32 points, six boards, five assists and two steals to lead Benjamin back to the Class 1A state title. Weston Weatherford added 20 points on 9-for-12 shooting and six boards off the bench and Jules Pugi hit three 3s on his way to 13 points. Benjamin otherwise shot 56.6 percent for 3.
Of the five Benjamin starters, four finished with five or more assists.
Stryker Reed had 27 points, nine boards and four assists to lead Gordon, which only attempted four free throws in the contest (to Benjamin's 14).
Rigdon, who led Benjamin to a 1A state football title in December, is the Damian Lillard of high school basketball, full stop.
The multi-sport standout entered Thursday's game averaging 47.6 points per game, has surpassed 50 points four times this season and dropped 60 points in a Feb. 22 win over Hermleigh.
Next, he will try to bring Benjamin, which lost in the semifinals last year, its first state hoops title.
-- Andy Buhler | andy@scorebooklive.com | @sblivetx
