Levi Yancy Powers Second-Ranked White Oak to 71-48 Rout of Newton

LUFKIN -- White Oak head coach Ron Boyett was concerned with how his team would perform after being off for a week.

His worries were to put to rest after the second-ranked Roughnecks' dominant second quarter, which fueled a 71-48 rout of Newton on Friday night in their Class 2A Region III area playoff at Angelina College's Shands Gymnasium.

"The area game's always tough because you've been off with the bye," Boyett said. "I'm always concerned about how we get started. In the first quarter, we were a little slow getting out of the gate. Once we got our feet wet, I thought we were fine."

White Oak (33-1), the defending 2A state champions, advanced to the regional quarterfinals where the Roughnecks will meet Palestine Westwood next week.

Senior 6-7 post Levi Yancy dominated from the outset and finished with 22 points, 11 rebounds, four blocks and three steals.

"Levi really went from the get-go and kinda spurred everybody on," Boyett said. "Once we started, I thought we were fine. We played a lot better defense in the second quarter."

White Oak led 16-13 after the first quarter, then went on an 18-2 run to completely take control. The spurt was highlighted by a run of 11 straight points from Skylar Sutton and punctuated by the second of three first-half dunks from Yancy.

"Once we get the ball rolling, it's hard to stop," Yancy said.

Sutton had 14 points, which included four 3-pointers, while point guard Kris Anderson added 13 points, three assists and three steals.

"Skylar's just a good player; he's a senior, Kris is a senior, Levi's a senior," Boyett said. "This is when you expect them to play their best, and I thought they did for the most part."

Dribble penetration was key for White Oak, especially in the first half. Newton (12-4) was determined to limit the Roughnecks' effectiveness from the 3-point line, which left gaping holes in the lane that White Oak exploited with regularity.

"We were able to break them down off the dribble, and if you help (defensively), we've got some guys that are pretty good shooters that we can kick it to," Boyett said. "It's a good compliment to what we do, it's one facet of our offense."

D.J. Dean had 18 points and five rebounds to lead Newton, while Calum Foster added 12 points in the losing effort.

White Oak led 42-22 at halftime, but Newton cut into the lead with a 9-2 run in the first two minutes of the second half. That was as close as the Eagles came, as White Oak scored the game's next nine points in just 1:32 to go in front, 53-31.

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Class 2A Boys Area Playoff
At Angelina College's Shands Gymnasium, Lufkin

No. 2 White Oak 71, Newton 48

Newton           13    9   17    9   --   48
White Oak      16   26  15   14   --   71
NEWTON--D.J. Dean, 18; Calum Foster, 12; Kevin Shorter, 7; Troy Pegues, 6; Chase Mattox, 3; Roney Elam, 2.
WHITE OAK--Levi Yancy, 22; Skylar Sutton, 14; Kris Anderson, 13; Hayden Nichols, 10; Slade Sutton, 9; Cass Carr, 3.
RECORDS--Newton 12-4; White Oak 33-1.