Plano East cruises past College Park

WACO ? With a combined 23-game win streak between them, Plano east and The Woodlands College Park knew something had to give Friday night.

College Park gave and Plano East kept taking as the Panthers cruised to their 14th consecutive win with a 62-42 victory over the Cavaliers in a Class 5A Region II semifinal at Baylor University?s Ferrell Center.

Plano East will look for win No. 15 in a row and a berth in the state semifinals when it faces another Houston area foe in Klein Forest, which dropped Mesquite 55-45 in the other semifinal.

Turnovers plagued the Cavaliers (29-10) early helping Plano East build a 29-20 lead at the half. And with Anthony Hill?s hot hand, that?s all the Panthers (30-6) needed.

Paced by Hill?s game-high 21 points, the Panthers jumped out with a quick spurt in the third and went on to outscore College Park 17-10, building a 16-point lead that never got any smaller.

Kevin Smith and Jonathan West combined to add 22 points for the Panthers as Plano East scored 60 or more points for the ninth time in its last 11 games.

Kirk Van Slyke finished with 15 points to lead College Park as the Cavaliers could do nothing to keeping their 10-game win streak from coming to an end.

Date of Article: Fri Feb 29, 2008 11:30 pm