THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Levelland High School Athletics

Carter Johnson cracked a smile as his sixth 3-point goal hit its mark, and the expression followed him through to the end of No. 10 Seminole’s Region 1-4A quarterfinal against Levelland. The Indians’ senior forward went 6-for-7 from 3-point range and scored a game-high 23 points. Then he huddled together with his senior-laden team as they lifted the regional quarterfinal trophy after a 61-46 win over the Lobos on Tuesday at the Rip Griffin Center. “It’s so exciting,” Johnson said of the regional tournament berth. “The seniors are living it up and we just love it. We love the atmosphere, and the fans do a good job of supporting us. We just love it.” Despite trailing at the end of the first quarter and a third-quarter scare, Seminole (24-8) fended off a rally by Levelland (23-11) to advance to the Region I-4A semifinals. Two of the four teams there will be out of District 2-4A, No. 8 Estacado having earned its spot Monday by beating Monahans. The Indians remained calm during Lobo runs. “I think that is just who we are,” Johnson said. “Coach (David Williams) always tells us to keep our composure, and we did a good job at it.” There wasn’t much separation in the first quarter with Levelland earning the advantage at the end of the opening eight minutes. Lobos sophomore guard Jacob Ramirez drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give his team a 13-12 lead. The two teams exchanged baskets to start the second quarter, but Seminole dominated the floor thereafter. Senior forward Clayton Medlin sank a 3 of his own with 6:08 left in the first half to spark a 13-0 run. Medlin, Johnson, Reese Moore and Jalen Brattain all had a hand in the Indians’ double-digit run. Medlin slammed the ball home to draw a Levelland timeout with Seminole leading 27-15 with 3:44 left in the second quarter. “We switched our defense,” Williams said. “We thought with the zone we were really giving too many wide open looks. They were hitting 3s and that allowed for them to stay in the game. We keep preaching to the kids that if we get some stops and have some pride in our defense, we could turn it into offense.” Seminole led 32-19 at halftime and was still up 36-21 midway through the third quarter when Levelland made a push. Lobo freshman guard Isaiah Salazar sank back-to-back jumpers and a pair of free throws to go on a solo 6-0 run and cut the lead to 36-27. But the Indians remained composed in the game’s final minutes to earn the victory. “Our seniors on our team, they don’t get rattled,” Williams said. “They do a good job at keeping it up and not thinking ahead and playing in the moment.”

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Levelland High School Athletics

JOHNSON, SEMINOLE DEFEAT LEVELLAND TO EARN REGION I-4A TOURNAMENT BERTH

BRYAN NAVARETTE

Lubbock Online | 2/27/2018