Panthers prove a little better

COLLEYVILLE - With a sagging, smothering zone, Keller's top-rated defense did its best to stifle Colleyville Heritage big man Jeremy Buttell on Tuesday.

Then the little man made the Indians pay.

Andrew Frohman, the Panthers' Tasmanian devil of a point guard, blew open a close game with an electric third quarter and spurred his squad to a 48-31 victory in a battle of District 5-5A unbeatens.

Colleyville Heritage (19-4, 6-0 district), No. 11 in the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches Class 5A state rankings, pushed its district winning streak to 24 games while handing the Indians (19-3, 5-1) their first loss since Dec. 19. And the 5-foot-8 Frohman was the biggest reason why.

"They have a lot of talent on that team," Keller coach Rod Johnson said, "but [Frohman] is what makes them what they are."

The Panthers were up 24-19 when guard Derek Johnson picked up his fourth foul and went to the bench just one minute, 23 seconds into the third quarter. It was a moment ripe for a letdown. But Frohman wouldn't let that happen.

First he dished out assists to Buttell (13 points) and Bryan Friday (13 points) on back-to-back possessions to make the score 28-19. Then he delivered the play of the game. After a missed Keller 3-pointer, Frohman pulled down the rebound and sped downcourt to convert a tough left-handed layup despite being fouled. His ensuing free throw made the score 31-22 with 4:04 remaining.

How big was the little man? The Panthers scored 11 points in the third quarter. Frohman had a hand in all of them (three points, four assists). When he opened the fourth quarter by swishing a 3-pointer to make it 38-24, the game was all but over.

"We didn't have a very good first half, so in the third quarter we wanted to put our foot down and show them that we wanted it more than they did," Frohman said.

Keller lived up to its status as the top scoring defense among area 5A teams (44.8 points per game), but the Indians hit just 11 of 35 shots and had 17 turnovers on offense.

COLLEYVILLE HERITAGE 48, KELLER 31

BREAKDOWN

SCORING LEADER

Jeremy Buttell, Coll. Heritage, 13

REBOUNDING LEADER

Buttell, 7

ASSISTS LEADER

Andrew Frohman, Coll. Heritage, 7

NOTABLE

Keller top scorer Cody Page (16.9 points per game) had just eight points on 3-of-13 shooting. ... Colleyville Heritage leads 5-5A with a 6-0 record, followed by Keller (5-1), L.D. Bell (4-2) and Fossil Ridge (3-3).

UP NEXT

Haltom at Keller, 8 p.m. Friday

Colleyville Heritage at Fossil Ridge, 8 p.m. Friday