COLLEGE STATION – Early on in the first quarter of their TAPPS 6A State Championship game, the Antonian boys basketball team was in trouble. Bishop Lynch came out on fire and jumped out to a 17-6 lead with a little over 2 minutes left in the frame.
The Apaches didn’t flinch.
Seniors Gavino Ramos and Bryon Armstong unleashed a barrage of three pointers in the second quarter and junior guard Xavier Martinez helped kickstart an early third-quarter run, and Antonian rolled past the Friars to win their second state championship in the last three years, 73-57.
“We knew they were going to come out firing,” Martinez said. “They had just won a big game, but we just kept our mental. We stayed together and relied on our chemistry that we had built throughout the whole year. We just had to take their punch, and once we did, we came out with a run of our own in the second half, and they couldn’t take it.”
Antonian missed out on an opportunity to exact revenge against Plano John Paul II, who fell to Bishop Lynch in the TAPPS 6A semifinals earlier this week. The Apaches lost to JPII last season in the state championship, the only blemish on what has been a stellar, three-year run of dominance.
WATCH: @AntonianBBall are on top of the @TAPPSbiz 6A mountain once again, rolling past Dallas Bishop Lynch 73-57 to claim their second title in three seasons! #KSATsports @acpapaches @RudyJBernal1 @armstrongb_15 @g_ramos3 pic.twitter.com/vAuhYrVH8U
— Andrew Cely (@ACelySports) March 13, 2021
“It doesn’t matter who we played as long as we got it done,” Ramos said. “Man, it’s sweet. We got it done, and it feels great to go out of high school like this.”
“I’m so happy to go out with a win,” Armstrong said. “It’s my last year, and I’m just happy to celebrate with my teammates, my family and all my friends.”
“To get the first [title] was really awesome,” head coach Rudy J. Bernal explained. “The group of kids that I’ve had over these last four years has just been unreal. So to be able to get the second one tonight, when we missed out on getting it last year, it’s just sweet.”