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The Lake Travis boys basketball team defeated Kerrville Tivy 38-31 this afternoon in San Antonio to earn the school’s first-ever bid to the state tournament.
A late second-quarter surge broke the game’s final tie, and the Cavaliers (32-5) held off the Antlers to win the Region IV-4A title. Lake Travis had thrashed Gregory Portland in Friday night’s semifinal 70-44 to reach the championship game.
The Cavaliers came out swinging to open the game Saturday afternoon, with Zach Karczewski leading the charge. The Cavs’ man in the post was going up against two Tivy posts with major height advantages over him, but Karczewski didn’t relent.
“We knew we had to attack them, try to get them in foul trouble and let them know we weren’t just going to settle for the three,” Karczewski said. “Once you establish that, it gives you a lot more open looks all over the floor.”
Lake Travis held steady in the opening quarter, thanks to two buckets by Karczewski and a three pointer from both Chris Dash and Cole Vucurevich. After the first frame, Lake Travis led 11-7.
After a rush by the Antlers to tie the game at 14-14 with just under four minutes left in the first half, the Cavaliers went on a 10-2 run, stealing the momentum heading into the break with a 24-16 lead.
Lake Travis kept the rush on in the third quarter, keeping Tivy at bay and holding a 33-26 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
But Tivy opened the quarter on a 5-1 run and the Lake Travis side of the gym tensed up a bit. Lake Travis head coach Jan Jernberg called a timeout with his team up 34-31.
“The first thing we told the guys was, ‘look, [Tivy's] going to get their shots and they’re going to have their moment,’” Jernberg said. “We told them to bend but not break. We’ve been waiting too long for this, we’ve got too much heart and we’re either going to stick the dagger in them or they’re going to stick it in us. Don’t lose your poise, play great defense and make the play when you get a chance.”
The timeout talk appeared to help, as the Antlers didn’t score another point over the final six minutes. With about seven seconds left in the game, Cavalier point guard David Eads was fouled and went to the free throw line with a 37-31 lead. Jernberg subbed out his other four players on the floor and the celebration began on the Cavalier sideline and the stands.
Meanwhile, Eads was the lone starter left on the floor, which seemed appropriate. Eads blamed himself for the Cavaliers’ Region IV title game loss to LBJ last year, and in the ultimate act of redemption, hit one more free throw to score his 19th point of the game – sealing the win with one of the best offensive games of his career, and freeing himself from the tremendous weight carried on his shoulders.
“David had this great fall league game against Westwood where he just shot the lights out. I know he can score like that, but he came up to me and said, ‘Coach, I’d forgotten, but I can shoot,’” Jernberg laughed. “I told him he could definitely shoot and that he just needed to go out there and knock them down.”
That’s exactly what he did, not missing a single shot after his sole miss of the game in the first quarter.
“We’ve worked so hard to get to this point, and it’s an unreal feeling to know that it has all paid off,” Eads said. “My role isn’t really to score much, I’m more of a distributer. But we knew coming in that Tivy had scouted us and knew us pretty well, so they were guarding our shooters tough all game. Because of that, I was open a lot and I had to make the most of it.”
Then he stood alone on the free throw line. Soaking in the reality.
“I just kept thinking, ‘we’ve got a seven-point lead with seven seconds left,’ – it’s a good feeling,” he said.
Lake Travis then celebrated with friends and family and cut down one of the nets.
A region title has been the hope and dream of Jernberg his entire career. He’s had two Lake Travis teams just miss out as region favorites, and this time, he got his trip to the state tournament.
“I can’t put words to it,” Jernberg said. “I know it sounds corny, but I really am humbled by it. I’ve been in that building so many times going to my regional board meetings between the games during the state tournament and it is awe-inspiring.”
“To be able to coach in that atmosphere and on that stage – it’s not even about winning and losing. Of course we want to win, I want it for our kids, but this is also going to be the most fun week of workouts we’ve ever had,” he said.
The Cavs’ opponent won’t be determined until late Saturday or early Sunday morning, though Jernberg felt confident that his team would not be seeded in a position to have to play Houston Yates, a team that has flat-out dominated opponents all season. Without knowing his opponent, he could only speak to his team’s abilities.
“We are who we are,” Jernberg said. “We’ve earned this position by playing great defense. We’re still going to play defense when we get there. I don’t know what’s going to happen when we get there, but we’re going to fight and we’re going to battle.”
The Cavaliers will play Thursday night in the Frank Erwin Center. The 4A semifinal games will wrap up a day of semifinal basketball. The first semifinal will begin at 7 p.m. with the second one to follow.
For state tournament ticket information, visit uil.utexas.edu/athletics/basketball/state/boys/index.html
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