That didn’t happen, but that didn’t matter.
After Temple fell behind 47-46 with 10 minutes left, it scored the next 14 points to spark a 24-3 run as the Leopards beat the Vikings 80-73 on Saturday to remain in the hunt for the Northern Texas Junior College Athletic Conference championship.
“I told our guys that the first 5 minutes of the second half would make a big difference, and my speech did no good at all,” Johnson joked after his team moved to 26-3 overall and 10-3 in the NTJCAC - a half-game behind idle leader Weatherford - with one regular-season game remaining before the NJCAA Region V Tournament in Belton.
“When Grayson took the lead we called a timeout and said, ‘We’re the playoff team. We need to start acting like it,’” he added. “And then we went on the 14-0 run. This was a good road win for us.”
J.B. Conley led the Leopards with 16 points and 13 rebounds, Chris Ellis had 13 points and LaDon Huckaby and C.J. Richards added 12 apiece. Wes Dipprey grabbed seven rebounds, Huckaby had seven assists and Thomas Anguiano made five steals.
TC jumped out to a 9-2 lead before Grayson (13-15, 6-7) recovered to limit its halftime deficit to 10. The Vikings then blitzed the Leopards with a 21-10 run to go up 47-46 with 10 minutes left, but Temple responded with a big spurt paced by active defense to seize a 60-47 lead, which became 70-50.
“Defense keyed it and we got some steals and easy baskets,” Johnson said. “It was not anybody in particular. Our team as a whole just executed better.”
If Temple beats Collin County (20-8, 8-4) in its finale at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at TC Gym, the Leopards would need for Weatherford to lose to McLennan (21-7, 8-4) or Grayson to gain a share of their third conference title in four years. TC still could be seeded first, second, third or fourth for the March 6-9 regional tournament.
Lady Leopards falter, lose 83-76 to Grayson
DENISON - The Temple College Lady Leopards could have clinched at least a share of third place in the Northern Texas Junior College Athletic Conference on Saturday.
Grayson County had other ideas, though.
TC coach Kim Sebek said the Lady Vikings shot the ball better and played with greater effort after they defeated her Lady Leopards 83-76 to slice their third-place lead to a half-game with one regular-season game left.
“We worked hard, but Grayson wanted it more than we did,” said Sebek, whose team is 16-12 overall and 10-5 in the NTJCAC. “Not much went our way today. We didn’t shoot or rebound very well. You can’t underestimate anybody and they shot really well on their home court.”
Former Temple Tem-Cat Shondria Combs led TC with 20 points, 10 steals and nine assists. Brittany Bryant scored 14 points, Mareta Bailey had 12 and Andrea Johnson added 10. Temple trailed 39-28 at halftime and didn’t get closer than the final margin.
Post Ashley Collier paced fifth-place Grayson (16-11, 8-6) with 24 points. The Lady Vikings were 7-of-14 on 3-point shots.
Temple can wrap up third place and its conference’s No. 3 seed for the NJCAA Region V Tounament by beating fourth-place Collin County (17-11, 9-5) at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at TC Gym. The Lady Leopards lost 89-73 at Collin on Jan. 30.
