Plainview head coach Robi Coker had a simple but effective strategy in the second half of Friday’s Class 3A boys championship game.

“We threw the ball to Luke Smith,” he said.

Smith scored 10 of his 18 points in the third quarter as the third-ranked Bears held off No. 2 Midfield 40-37 to win the school’s fourth state title since 2018.

“Luke hasn’t been great in a month from the field,” Coker said. “He’s been a phenomenal facilitator and done some other things really well, but his stroke hasn’t been up to expectations. I could tell it was bothering him because he shot a lot of extra shots before and after practice.

“All your great players shoot the basketball. We found the hot hand, and these guys fed him and screened for him and got him going.”

Plainview (31-6) trailed 20-16 at the half, but the Bears opened the second half with a 10-2 run to take the lead for good. Smith started and closed the spurt with a 3, the last one giving his team a 26-22 cushion with 3:22 left in the third.

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“They were guarding us well,” Smith said. “They were athletic. We were down. I knew we needed someone to step up and make some plays. I just happened to be that guy at the time.”

In a game neither team led by more than five points, the Bears couldn’t pull away. They led 28-26 entering the fourth quarter and increased the margin to 38-33 on a pair of Jonah Williams free throws with 30 seconds left.

Midfield (25-6) responded with a quick basket from De’Marreon Baldwin and then forced a turnover when Plainview was called for traveling. With 15.9 seconds left, the Patriots had a chance to tie the game with a 3 and force overtime.

They had one big problem. The Bears only had two team fouls. They used three more following the traveling call, successfully running the clock down to six seconds in the process and limiting Midfield’s chance to get a good look at 3.

“I would have liked to foul one more time, but Levi (Brown) was about to foul out,” Coker said.

Midfield star Shannon Jones finally got off a deep 3-point shot. It was off the mark, but he got the rebound and scored with 1.7 seconds left to trim the Plainview lead to 38-37. Williams hit two more free throws for the final margin. Jones got off a desperation halfcourt shot – that almost went in – but it came seconds after the buzzer anyway.

“That’s our identity,” Midfield coach Courtney Jones said. “We don’t give up. We never give up. We have a high work ethic. We lost today. Probably in a week or less, we’ll be back at it. Last year after we lost, we went back to work the next day. We aren’t going away.”

Star of the game: Smith was 8-of-14 from the field and 2-of-2 from 3-point range. He also had nine rebounds, three assists and two blocks.

Stat game: Plainview – Levi Brown, Landon White and Williams all scored seven points. Midfield – De’Marreon Baldwin finished with 17 points and nine rebounds. Jones had 11 points, three rebounds, two assists and a steal.

By the numbers: Plainview was 15-of-34 from the field, 4-of-12 from 3-point range and 6-of-8 from the foul line. Midfield was 15-of-35 from the field, 1-of-6 from 3-point range and 6-of-10 from the foul line. The Patriots won the rebounding battle 24-18. The game was tied three times and there were four lead changes.

Slow down game: Coker opted not to play Plainview’s trademark full-court pressing defense, instead opting to play the Patriots in the halfcourt.

“I knew if we got beat not pressing I would be the goat and I don’t mean the greatest of all time,” Coker said. “But I thought our best chance to win the game was in the halfcourt. We felt we had to throw them a little bit of a curveball and play a little different with their athleticism. I knew Shannon would be a tough matchup for us.”

As a result, Midfield was credited with the only two fastbreak points of the game.

Did you know? Plainview also won state titles in 2018, 2019 and 2022. Midfield won titles in 1984, 2012, 2014, 2017 and 2021.

They said it:

“This is a resilient group. We didn’t start the season real well, but they showed their character and love for one another, and we figured out an identity. … I can’t say enough about this group’s toughness and how they respond to adversity. Because of that, they deserve to be champions.” – Coker.

“There is no better feeling. This was our goal the whole year. We worked and were able to get the job done.” – Smith.

“We didn’t achieve our goal of being state champs, but best believe we’ll be back.” — Courtney Jones said.

“It was slowing us down. When I realized what they were doing, I knew we had to call a timeout and set up a different strategy. It was a slow but, but it was a fun game to play in.” – Shannon Jones.