Posted: Wed, 9 Mar 2011 07:11 PM - 9,352 Readers
By: Danny Davis
CEDAR PARK — Cedar Park will not enter this week's state basketball tournament as Class 4A's paper champion .
The Timberwolves (22-16) have more losses than any of the other 23 state tournament qualifiers and only 21-win Evadale has fewer victories. In the playoffs, Cedar Park has scored more than 50 points only once.
After winning the Class 4A, Region IV championship last week, though, the Timberwolves feel that they belong at the Erwin Center alongside Class 4A title contenders Dallas Kimball, Arlington Heights and La Marque. And as they head into a state semifinal tonight against top-ranked Kimball, the Timberwolves refuse to be labeled underdogs.
"We do not feel like an underdog," senior guard Dylan Cox said. "We feel like we can play with anyone out there."
"We earned our spot in the Final Four just like they all earned their spots," senior Brandon Allen said. "Their records might be better than ours, but we all made it to the Final Four the same way so we feel like we have a great chance at it."
After winning the District 16-5A title last season, Cedar Park opened this season as the eighth-ranked team in the American-Statesman's Central Texas preseason poll .
But the Timberwolves stumbled out of the gate, losing their first five games. After 11 games, they had secured only two victories .
The team was hampered by the absence of Cox, Allen and Spencer Drango, members of the Cedar Park football team that reached the state quarterfinals. Without that trio — Cox was an all-district selection last season, Allen was a part-time starter and Drango was an asset off the bench — Cedar Park was left with sophomore Jamie Xia as the team's only varsity returnee.
On Dec. 4, the Cedar Park football team lost to Lake Travis 21-20 in a state quarterfinal. Six days later, Allen, Cox and Drango made their basketball debuts against St. Stephen's.
"Their first practice that they came here, you could feel it immediately, the change," forward C.J. Cleaves said. "They came off a tough loss against Lake Travis so they were ready to win again."
Cedar Park lost five of its first nine games after the three starters returned, but the team soon began to justify its preseason ranking. The Timberwolves won their second straight district championship, and they then held double-digit leads in each of their five playoff victories.
The Timberwolves have found success behind a defensive attack that has allowed 49.4 points per game. Cedar Park, which uses man-to-man defense, gave up only two field goals in the second half of its 45-24 regional championship victory over Boerne Champion.
Thanks to its stingy defense , Cedar Park has been able to win games when it put only 39, 34, 30 and 29 points on the scoreboard. Timberwolves coach Blake Brown said his team has adopted a patient approach on offense in an effort to find good shots, and Cleaves said he and his teammates can run when they need to.
"The difference between the first semester and second semester was night and day," said Reagan coach Derrick Davis, whose team was eliminated by Cedar Park in the bidistrict playoffs. "Unlike most teams at this point, they're still improving. I think they have a quality scheme that can go against the Dallas teams."
"They play as fundamentally sound as anyone in the state," Lake Travis coach Jan Jernberg said.
While they don't see themselves as underdogs, the Timberwolves are relishing in their roles as history makers.
A year after winning its first district championship, Cedar Park is at its first state tournament. The Timberwolves are two wins away from the greatest victory in school history.
"It feels great to be a part of a legacy," Cox said. "We're just ready to play. We don't want it to end without a state championship."
danieldavis@statesman.com; 445-3952
Cedar Park vs. Dallas Kimball
What: UIL boys Class 4A state semifinal
Where: Erwin Center
When: 8:30 p.m. today
Records: Cedar Park is 22-16, Kimball is 36-3
Today's other state tournament games
All games at Erwin Center
Class A, Division I semifinals
Clarendon (24-6) vs. Tenaha (27-9), 8:30 a.m.
Clyde Eula (35-2) vs. Evadale (21-15), 10 a.m.
Class 3A semifinals
Corpus Christi West Oso (33-3) vs. Dallas Smith (26-9), 2 p.m.
Burkburnett (32-3) vs. Mexia (31-5), 3:30 p.m.
Class 4A semifinals
Fort Worth Arlington Heights (32-3) vs. La Marque (32-4), 7 p.m.
