On Friday, February 15, the Judson Rockets (24-12) faced the Clemens Buffaloes (23-11) in a playoff seeding game to determine second and third place at the Steele High School Gym.

In the first meeting between these two teams, which took place on January 18 at Judson High School, Clemens defeated the Rockets 80-73. In the second meeting, which took place last Tuesday at Clemens High School, Judson cruised to a 69-58 victory to force the seeding game.

In the first quarter, the Rockets came out firing on all cylinders as junior Michael Chandler went in for a layup and got the and-one. Senior Davion Wilson went in for a layup of his own to make the score 5-0. After a Clemens three-pointer, Wilson, Chandler and junior Kyonte Holder all went in for layups to increase the Rockets lead to 11-3. Wilson got the Judson crowd excited with two consecutive dunks and the Rockets led 23-8. To end the quarter, Holder went down the court and put it in for two and make the score 27-14.

In the beginning of the second quarter, the Rockets continued to light up the scoreboard and had a 36-16 lead. The middle of the quarter saw back and forth play but rarely did we see a score as both defenses began to take over. Clemens did have a 6-0 run before Chandler was fouled and went one-for-two at the line to make it 39-22. Clemens then went on another scoring run to cut it to 40-33, going into halftime.

The third quarter was full of action as Wilson drove in for a layup and senior Dhimani Hernandez sank a three-pointer to make the score, 45-35. After Chandler went in for a layup to increase the lead to 48-35, Clemens went on a 10-0 run to cut the Rockets lead to 48-45. After a Buffalo layup, they got the ball back and sank a three-pointer to take their first lead of the game, 52-53. But senior Adrian Cohen made sure the Rockets went into the fourth quarter with the momentum, hitting a two-point jump shot at the buzzer to help the Rockets retake the lead, 54-53.

In the fourth quarter, the Rockets were up 57-54 when Clemens hits a three-pointer to tie the game at 57-57. The Rockets offense began to rebuild the momentum as both Chandler and junior Arthur Celestin were fouled and went combined three for four at the line. With the Rockets up 67-63, Clemens sank a three to close the gap at 67-66. But the Rockets refused to let up and they took the victory, 72-68.

The Rockets finished 12-3 in District 26-6A and 25-12 overall and claimed the second place spot. They will face the (19-11) Austin Bowie Bulldogs tonight at 7:00 at Lockhart High School in the first round of the UIL Basketball Playoffs.