By Alex Nicoll

Staff Writer

All it took was one period for the Cowboys playoff run to be over. A 16-6 run for the Duncanville Panthers in overtime sealed Coppell’s fate in Friday’s 54-44 Class 5A area playoffs loss.

The game started off in Coppell’s favor with senior guard Brandon Watson sinking two free throws before the tip-off due to a technical foul called on Duncanville for dunking in pre-game.

Coppell opened the game hot, making three 3-pointers in their first four shots. Senior Simi Socks, who led Coppell in scoring that night with 14 points, knocked down back-to-back three’s in this span.

The Panthers responded, staying in the game in the first quarter matching the Cowboys for almost every basket.

At the end of the first Coppell was up 12-10.

Senior guard Landon Goesling opened up the quarter with a three that was followed by Sock’s third three-pointer of the night.

Defensively, the Cowboys defense held Duncanville to only five points in the second quarter. One of the biggest storylines of the night was their stifling pressure on Duncanville’s 6-9 senior center Omar Sherman, who they forced to foul out in the fourth and held to only two points.

He had been averaging 17.1 points per game this season.

With the game at a stagnant point, where neither team seemed to be able to score, senior forward Josh Feitl brought the crowd to its feet after his one-handed putback dunk, pushing the score to 22-15 for Coppell.

After another drought of coring by both teams and time running out in the half, freshman guard Sam Marshall ended the half with a corner three that pushed the score to 27-15.

Coppell’s first-half dominance became Duncanville’s second-half comeback.

The Panthers closed the third quarter on an 11-2 run on the backs of senior forward DJ Wallace and junior guard Matthew McQuaid. Wallace finished the night as high point with 23 followed by McQuaid with 19.

During the fourth quarter, the game saw five lead changes and two ties after Socks converted a 3-point play opportunity to tie the game at 38 apiece.

Duncanville’s game plan to hold the ball for the final shot failed to result in a basket and even gave the Cowboys a chance to win the game. Feitl missed the shot at the buzzer to send the game into overtime.

From the tip-off, Duncanville took over the game. The Panthers hit a three to open up overtime and kept the baskets rolling as time wore on.

Coppell failed to score consistently until the closing minutes of the game when the win was already out of reach.

Duncanville will move on to face the Hebron Hawks in the regional quarterfinal game at UT-Arlington on tonight at 7:30 p.m.

Duncanville Box Score

Coppell Box Score