The Woodlands holds off College Park

THE WOODLANDS, Texas – After waiting all season long to crack the top 25 state poll, The Woodlands High School boys’ basketball team finally made it and then had to fight for their lives at College Park Tuesday night to hold onto that ranking and to first place in the District 14-5A standings.

The Highlanders (22-3, 5-0), ranked No. 25 in the latest Texas Association of Basketball Coaches Poll, used a 16-12 fourth-quarter edge to break a 34-34 tie and stay unbeaten in district play. But the Cavaliers (20-9, 2-3) gave them all they wanted.

College Park led 11-10 at the quarter before the Highlanders forged a 27-26 lead at halftime. The two teams entered the final eight minutes all knotted up. But The Woodlands made the plays down the stretch, hit its free throws and held on for the victory.

“It was a great atmosphere with two good teams, an exciting game, a big crowd. We may not have played our best game but we did what needed to be done to get the win,” The Woodlands coach Dale Reed said. “College Park has a really good team and I’m proud of our guys. We hit our free throws and when we missed one, we got the rebound there towards the end.”

Joey Trinkle scored 13 points and Wes Cole added 11 more for The Woodlands in the defensive struggle.

“They play good defense and so do we. So points were at a premium tonight,” Reed said.

Layton Zinsmeister and Zach Wright scored 10 points each for College Park. Evan Cooper added seven points, six assists, five rebounds, and four steals, while Colin Stautner finished with six points, six blocked shots, and five rebounds.

Sam Osina, with six points, Tanner McNeely, four points, and Desmond Fleming, three points, rounded out the scoring for the Cavaliers.