AUSTIN -- Houston Strake Jesuit blazed a trail just getting to the Texas state basketball tournament. The championship trophy, however, will stay in the public school domain.
Darius Terrell's four free throws over the final 1 minute, 18 seconds lifted DeSoto to a 48-44 upset of top-ranked Houston Strake Jesuit in the Class 5A semifinals.
Terrell's first free throw snapped a 44-44 tie and he made three more in the final 22 seconds for the final margin.
Alex Wilson and Derico Dandridge each scored 11 for DeSoto (32-8). Dandridge made consecutive 3-pointers to tie it at 44-44.
Tim Frazier scored 17 points to lead Jesuit (37-1).
Strake Jesuit and Dallas Jesuit are the only private schools allowed to play in the UIL and the Houston school, an all-boys campus of almost 900 students, was the first to make the state tournament. The Crusaders romped through an undefeated season behind three players signed to Division I college scholarships: Frazier (Penn State), Joe Brooks (Notre Dame) and Steven Rogers (Rice).
But while Frazier was slashing through the DeSoto defense, Brooks made just 4-of-23 field goals and had four turnovers, the last one setting up Terrell's game-winning free throw.
"We knew they had three players who were highly recruited," said DeSoto's wide-bodied center Evan Washington, who scored six straight points to keep Eagles close in the fourth quarter. "We have five good players. We're a team."
DeSoto players said they didn't care much that Jesuit is a private school crashing the playing courts of the public schools.
"They were 37-0. It doesn't matter if they were a public school or a private school," Washington said. "We wanted to give them their first loss."
Jesuit led 23-16 in the second quarter before DeSoto started showing signs of life with Keith Davis' two-handed dunk and Dandridge's spectacular spinning layup around two defenders.
Dandridge then hit a moon-shot 3-pointer over two lunging defenders at the buzzer, giving DeSoto a 26-25 lead at halftime.
Brooks continued to struggle to find his shot in the third but Frazier was having no such problems, slashing through DeSoto's lane to score or dish to teammates for easy baskets.
The teams traded one-point leads four times in the third until Jesuit's Steven Rogers hit a 3-pointer and a steal by Brooks started a fastbreak that Frazier finished with a layup. Williams' layup gave Jesuit a 38-32 lead going into the fourth.
Washington scored six straight points to keep the Crusaders from pulling away before Dandridge's late 3-pointers tied it at 44-44.
Terrell swallowed hard when he went to the line with the chance to first take the lead, then put the game out of reach.
"I was just thinking about my teammates and how far we've come. I didn't want to let them down," Terrell said.
Jesuit coach Wayne Jones noted what his team had accomplished just by getting to the state tournament.
"I will hold onto this the rest of my life," Jones said. "It took a lot of work to get here. These guys were the first."
DeSoto 48, Houston Strake Jesuit 44
DESOTO 48, HOUSTON STRAKE JESUIT 44
DESOTO (32-8)
Ensley 1-7 0-0 2, Terrell 1-8 4-7 6, Washington 4-6 2-2 10, Bennett 2-9 2-2 6, Dandridge 4-6 0-1 11, Wilson 4-6 1-1 11, Calahan 0-0 0-0 0, Davis 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 17-43 9-13 48.
HOUSTON STRAKE JESUIT (37-1)
Williams 3-4 0-0 6, Rogers 3-6 0-0 7, Dunbar 1-8 0-0 3, Frazier 7-15 2-2 17, Brooks 4-23 1-3 9, Eichelberger 0-0 0-0 0, Madjitey 0-0 0-0 0, Baars 1-2 0-0 2, Franshaw 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-58 3-5 44.
Halftime--DeSoto 26, Houston Strake Jesuit 25. 3-Point goals--DeSoto 5-15 (Dandridge 3-4, Wilson 2-3, Ensley 0-1, Bennett 0-3, Terrell 0-4), Houston Strake Jesuit 3-17 (Rogers 1-3, Frazier 1-4, Dunbar 1-5, Brooks 0-5). Fouled out--Williams. Rebounds--DeSoto 39 (Terrell 10), Houston Strake Jesuit 30 (Brooks 11). Assists--DeSoto 7 (Dandridge, Wilson 2), Houston Strake Jesuit 8 (Frazier 5). Total fouls--DeSoto 11, Houston Strake Jesuit 19. Technicals--DeSoto-None. Houston Strake Jesuit-None. A--11,914.
