Longview Big Men Power Lobos to 83-66 District 12-5A Win Over Rockwall-Heath

LONGVIEW -- Size matters. Just ask Rockwall-Heath's basketball team.

Longview's frontcourt punished Rockwall-Heath, helping the Lobos a 19-point lead after one quarter that they held the rest of the way in an 83-66 victory in Wednesday night's District 12-5A boys matchup at Lobo Coliseum.

Longview (11-10, 2-0), which improved to 11-3 since its football players joined the team, won the first-quarter rebounding battle 13-2 and dominated the glass the entire night. Longview collected 47 boards to Rockwall-Heath's 11, getting a double-double from Jordan Whitaker and solid performances from three other big men.

Cadell Williams led Longview with 22 points and six rebounds, while Whitaker had 19 points, 14 rebounds, and five assists. Zaycoven Henderson added 11 points and nine rebounds. Dorian Leonard had 11 points, six rebounds, and four assists.

"(Williams) came up here earlier today and put up a lot of extra shots. He's got a lot of potential, as long as he's not trying to do too much," said Longview coach Billy Goffney. "He put himself in a good situation to score and the guards did a good job of getting the ball into him and working it around."

Longview, which visits Tyler Lee at 5 p.m. Saturday, built a 27-8 lead after one period, but Camron Talley and Rockwall-Heath clawed back. Talley scored eight consecutive points to close the first half and pull the Hawks within eight points, 41-33, at halftime.

"We got kinda complacent and flat and let them back in (the game)," Goffney said. "We stopped being physical like we talked about. They did a good job of not quitting, and they made some tough shots.

"We just gotta put it together. We're still not playing four quarters. We came out in the third and got after it a little bit, then we had that lull until late in the fourth. We were soft defensively tonight. We've got to fix that. Rebounding and defense, that's what wins ball games. We're definitely gonna have a defensive workout these next couple of days. Tyler Lee's a good execution team, so we can't go in there soft like this or we'll get run out of there."

Guard D'Keilan Lynch complemented his frontcourt teammates' play with 13 points, including 3-for-6 three-point shooting. Fellow guard Stephon Anthony had six points, five rebounds, and three assists.

Tyler Zivney led Rockwall-Heath (11-11, 0-2) with 23 points, three assists, and three steals, while Talley had 18 points and five assists. Jackson Zivney scored 10 points.

Longview repelled Rockwall-Heath's surge in the third quarter, slightly growing its lead to 11 points, 62-51, by the end of the period. The Hawks made another push in the fourth, cutting Longview's lead to single digits, but the Lobos again answered, assembling a back-breaking run that pushed the lead back to 19 points to allow the 17-point victory margin.

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District 12-5A
Boys Basketball Game

Longview 83, Rockwall-Heath 66

Lobo Coliseum, Longview

Rockwall-Heath -- 8 25 18 15 -- 66
Longview -- 27 14 21 21 -- 83

Rockwall-Heath (11-11, 0-2) -- Tyler Zivney 23, Camron Talley 18, Jackson Zivney 10, Luke Ramirez 5, Colton Smith 4, David Keaton 4, Colton Rashbrook 2.
Longview (11-10, 2-0) -- Cadell Williams 22, Jordan Whitaker 19, D'Keilan Lynch 13, Zaycoven Henderson 11, Dorian Leonard 11, Stephon Anthony 6, Jaleel Bourque 1.