HS Boys Basketball: College Park Resumes Winning Ways with Victory over Caney Creek

THE WOODLANDS, TX -- The College Park Cavaliers (16-2) bested the Caney Creek Panthers (2-11) 84-55 to pick up where they left off in district play.

The Cavs entered the contest after a long week that unfortunately ended in defeat at the hands of the Fort Bend Marshall Buffaloes.

The start of the first quarter was a tight open for both teams, with neither squad mounting significant separation on the scoreboard.

The primary culprit for the close contest was clinical, time-consuming possessions from the Pathers that kept the ball out of the hands of the lethal Cavalier scorers.

Any moment College Park’s offense made their way down the floor, a volley of shots and makes would press the advantage in their favor. It took until the three-minute mark in the first quarter for these shots to begin snowballing into a commanding lead for the Cavaliers.

Three-pointers from College Park’s Aiden Buckmon pushed the team in front by 13 points before the quarter ended.

In an exclusive interview with The Woodlands Online Sports, College Park Head Coach Clifton McNeely spoke on the adjustable nature of his guys in the close start.

“We made some adjustments on defense because we were not very sharp,” said McNeely. “It was pretty sloppy basketball on our end.”

After taking time to adjust during the break into the second quarter, Caney Creek opened with a renewed offensive attack. A heavy focus on fast ball movement resulting in open threes immediately doubled the team’s score from the first quarter.

Luckily for the Cavaliers, their substantial lead in the first quarter cushioned the team’s effort in the second by allowing them to stay just ahead of their opponents.

Fouls were an increasing issue for both teams as the second dragged on due to a closely officiated game. These misses resulted in multiple looks from the free throw line for both teams, but frequent misses from Caney Creek kept them from inching closer on the scoreboard.

College Park seized the opportunity and steadily increased their lead on the Panthers. Their effort ended with the Cavs up 44-29 at the end of the half and Caney Creek needing answers for what they needed to change.

The answers for Caney Creek were not found during the halftime break, as College Park opened with a flurry of buckets brought on by excellent running in transition.

“That was a big part of our practice yesterday,” said McNeely. “We wanted to get out and push it and run, and I thought when we settled down, we got a lot of easy looks.”

Running the floor allowed the Cavs to rack up a 19-7 scoring run through six minutes in the third quarter.

The run continued with substitutes coming in to get minutes for College Park, demonstrating the talented depth present for the Cavs.

“We tell all of our kids everyone is accountable,” said McNeely. “They have got to know their role and responsibility and try not to do things that they cannot do.”

This continued effort from the Cavaliers, paired with a lack of offensive success from the Panthers, allowed College Park to carry a comfortable 70-40 lead going into the final quarter.

College Park effectively coasted through the fourth quarter due to their established 30-point lead, but the effort still came out impressive on the floor.

Communication and pressure on defense remained tip-top for the Cavaliers in the final eight minutes. Instead, the offense slowed down significantly for College Park, whose shots simply were not falling.

The Cavaliers only scored 14 points before the final buzzer, with most coming later in the quarter, showing how much the team slowed down their production with their lead firmly in control.

Despite the lack of fourth-quarter scoring, College Park was able to securely snag an 84-55 victory to get back on the winning track, punctuated by a late dunk from Jacob Oman.

The dominant win puts to rest a lot of worries coming from the College Park coaching staff concerning the increased pressure being applied to the athletes during this stretch of the year.

“The big thing today is that finals started,” emphasized McNeely. “We’re worried about fatigue, but I think we shook that off in the second half, and we will see what happens from here.”

With the win secured, the Cavaliers will hit the road and finish their week against the Willis WIldkats. Caney Creek will take on the Waller Bulldogs in their last game of the week as their final non-district matchup of the season.

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