Wildcats win!

Regional quarterfinal champs.

This post has been updated with information about how to purchase tickets.

Lake Highlands won Tuesday night’s regional quarterfinal game against Arlington Martin 48-45. They’ll face North Crowley Friday night.

Martin, which played with only five varsity players after a scuffle on the court last week resulted in referees ejecting the entire team’s bench, deserves credit for keeping the game close. They played four corner offense most of the game, essentially playing keep away with no shot clock to hurry their play. Martin led much of the first half and went into the halftime locker room with a 20-17 lead.

Martin brought junior varsity players along, but they never subbed their starters until senior Kordelius Jefferson (#23) fouled out. It’s tough to play against the state’s top-ranked team without tiring, and Martin ran out of rope by the final buzzer.

LH’s Tre Johnson scored a game high 26 points, Quinton Perkins had 12 and Samson Aletan scored 8.

Interestingly, eleven of Martin’s players were ejected from Friday night’s game against Lewisville because they rushed the court to defend their teammate — but video doesn’t appear to show any of them throwing a punch or shove. According to reports, junior William Warren (#0 in white in the video below), says an opposing player spit on him, and that’s why he reacted with a punch. Warren wasn’t ejected and was Martin’s lead scorer against LH with 29 points. Players who rose from the bench and walked onto the court, though, violated UIL rules and were suspended from the game against LH.

The regional semifinal game will be played March 3 at 6 p.m. at Wilkerson-Greines Activity Center, 5201 Ca Roberson Blvd, Fort Worth. Tickets are now available online here. Fans are strongly encouraged to purchase a parking pass when they purchase tickets online.

If the Wildcats win Friday night, they’ll play in the regional finals Saturday at 1 p.m. at Wilkerson-Greines. Go Cats.