NEW CANEY — New Caney controlled its own destiny, and the Eagles rose to the occasion.
The program is headed back to the playoffs for the first time since 2016 following a 79-52 home victory over Montgomery in District 20-5A action Saturday afternoon.
The Eagles simply needed a win to clinch their spot in the postseason, and they got the job done.
“It means everything,” senior guard Ethan Brandon said. “We’ve been working so hard over the offseason. It’s just been that grind. We do get in our heads sometimes, but we always pull it out. I love these guys. These guys mean everything to me. They’ve been with me since the beginning, through the dirt and the grind and everything. It means everything to get this win and go off to the playoffs.”
Reaching the playoffs represents a significant milestone for the New Caney program under coach Matt Farmer, who took the reins ahead of the 2016-17 season. The Eagles narrowly missed the cut during his first year and posted a combined 14-54 overall record during the two seasons that followed.
Some pieces started coming together last season, and now the team is flourishing.
“There’s been a lot of difficult moments that have led to this,” Farmer said. “We’ve had some great coaches that have come through here from the first year I took the job, from Coach (Mitchell) Doty coming over with me, and then Coach (Michael) Schone coming and working with me. Just trying to rebuild the program back to what it was before we got here. And then Coach (Sean) Lexima, Coach (Paul) Dempsey and Coach (Alvin) Sullivan, they really helped us finish the deal.”
The Eagles (12-9, 9-5) could have still qualified for the playoffs with a loss to the Bears (6-17, 3-11), but it would have required them to beat crosstown rival Porter in a fourth-place tiebreaker game.
New Caney took care of business, however, and finished tied for third place with Cleveland, which also clinched with a 61-50 victory over Porter on Saturday. New Caney and Cleveland split meetings this season, so the playoff seeding will be determined by a third matchup next week.
The third seed will play District 19-5A runner-up Magnolia (16-10). The fourth seed, meanwhile, will play No. 20 state-ranked Katy Paetow (18-1), the undefeated district champion.
All 10 New Caney players on the active roster saw action against Montgomery, and all 10 scored. Jaxon Olvera led the way with 17 points, while Kendall Dove and Sam Brandon had 13 and 12, respectively.
Cade Tipton led the Bears with 19 points, 16 of which came in the second half. Brock Hefner added 11.
New Caney was dominant out of the gates and quickly built a 14-0 lead just three minutes into the game. The Eagles missed their first two shots, but then made five straight during that stretch.
Montgomery turned the ball over seven times in the opening period, many of which were caused by a relentless full-court press from New Caney. The Eagles took advantage of the miscues and turned them into points. New Caney shot 10 for 19 from the floor and finished the quarter with a 28-10 lead.
“We just told them that we had to come out swinging,” Farmer said. “We didn’t want to give Montgomery any kind of life out of the gate because we knew, like you saw in the fourth quarter, they can make shots if they get going. Our whole focus was coming out and exerting ourselves and trying to build a lead. I was glad we did because it took a little stress off me.”
The Eagles went ahead by as many as 27 points in the second period as Dylan Dempsey converted a layup to give his team the 37-10 lead with 6:12 on the clock. New Caney maintained a healthy margin for the remainder of the quarter and went into the locker room with a 43-21 advantage.
The Eagles went ahead by 30 points midway through the third quarter at 55-25 and never looked back. New Caney easily held on for the victory and punched its ticket to the playoffs.
“It wasn’t going to be a cakewalk,” Ethan Brandon said. “We knew they were going to come after us and try to make sure we didn’t clinch (playoffs). But, for us, we were going out with the win. Nothing was going to keep us from taking that dub. We wanted it, and we played our hardest, and we played our best.”
jpoorman@hcnonline.com
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