The Shelbyville Dragons are the 2024 2A Region III Champions and are headed to the Alamodome to compete for a UIL State Championship. The more things change, the more they stay the same. 

Setting the Stage

The only thing standing in between the Dragons and the most coveted experience in Texas High School Basketball (A trip to the UIL State Tournament) was a very familiar foe. For the second time in as many years, two district opponents would face off in the 2A Region III championship game in Athens, TX (Which boasts one of the most spectacular arenas in East Texas). A year ago, it was District 19-2A foes LaPoynor and Martin's Mill facing off, this year would be District 23-2A champion (Beckville) and runner-up (Shelbyville) tying up to see who would be tangoing to San Antonio. With Beckville winning both matchups during district play, one on a buzzer beating three pointer by Texas Tech football signee J'Koby Williams, everyone anticipated a barn burner. 

The Game

After trading baskets to open the first few minutes of the game, the Dragons would use an 18-4 run over a span of nine game minutes to close the 1st quarter and open the 2nd period to take a 22-9 lead with about 3 minutes to go until halftime. In Beckville's eyes, they had Shelbyville right where they wanted them. Flashback to the first time these two played in district, the Bearcats won 57-42. What is not commonly known outside of East Texas is that the Dragons were up 16 points in the first half in that ball game and Beckville was out to repeat that history, going on a 6-0 run to close the first half, and trail 22-15 going into the locker room.  The 3rd quarter was a back an forth affair with both teams scoring 11 points and the Dragons leading 33-26, with 8 minutes left to determine who would be arranging hotel accommodations down on the Riverwalk. A big Eli Ferguson (9 points and 5 rebounds) 3-pointer, followed by a catch and finish by Weston Frick (12 points and 9 rebounds) from Jonavian Mathis saw Shelbyville take a 40-32 lead with right around 5 minutes to play and have everyone in the stands wondering could this be the time they actual seal the deal. Enter Ja'Kelvin Smith. The 6'5" Senior Forward from Beckville, who ended the game with 16 points and 7 rebounds, would score the next eight points for the Bearcats and help close the Dragon lead to 2 (44-42) with 1:16 to play. The do-it-all guard from Shelbyville, DJ Barnes, would be fouled with 58 seconds to play and make both free-throws to put them back up by 4. The Dragons would follow that with a defensive stop and score on offense put Shelbyville up 48-42 with 33 seconds and this one all but wrapped up. This is where things got very interesting. On the ensuring possession for Beckville, Williams was fouled on a 3-point attempt and went 2-3 from the free-throw line. Down 4, with 26 seconds to play, the Bearcats forced a turnover and scored on a JT Smith putback to make it a 2 point game (48-46) with 17 seconds remaining. Not wanting to foul Barnes, who was perfect from the FT line during the game, Beckville allowed over 10 seconds to run off the clock before sending Mathis to the line to shoot 2 FTs and a chance to seal the game. With 4 seconds on the clock, Mathis missed the first free-throw and Beckville called timeout to draw up another potential game-winning shot but a shot was not necessary. After missing the second free-throw, the Bearcats quickly got the ball to Williams who was fouled while racing up the court. Two point game, two free-throws to shoot, and the Senior multi-sport superstar could tie the game with 0.8 seconds to play and lift his team and community to an unlikely overtime win. With the Shelbyville faithful lifting the roof off the arena, Williams missed the first free-throw. Now having to miss the 2nd attempt to try for a putback, Beckville got a lane violation, and FINALLY Shelbyville could breathe a sigh of relief. With the 48-46 victory, the Shelbyville Dragons are headed to the State tournament for the 4th time in 6 years. With a new coach (Colton Wager) and new team, yet the same winning ways and the same Shelbyville community, the Dragons will be making the Southwest trip to San Antonio. The more things change, the more they stay the same.