Princeton senior Elijah Luster releases a one-handed jump shot against A&M Consolidated at the TABC Boys Basketball Showcase in Mansfield. Photo by David Wolman / C&S Media
By David Wolman
The difference between the Princeton boys basketball team finishing the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches Showcase with a 2-1 record instead of 3-0 came down to one sequence.
With the Panthers leading San Antonio Clark by two points, Princeton attempted to dribble out the final seconds of the June 28 game at Mansfield Legacy High School. Princeton attempted to make it a four-point game but missed on a dunk attempt. A technical foul was called for hanging on the rim after the dunk attempt, though the Panthers thought that time had expired prior to the infraction.
Clark proceeded to make both free throws to send the game into overtime. In the extra session, a 25-foot 3-pointer made by the Cougars ended the game via the event’s overtime rules for a 45-42 victory.
“I’ve never seen anything like that,” said Princeton head coach Eric Lockman. “The only thing close was in the NCAA Tournament when Duke tried to pass it up to finish a game with a dunk, but they lost to UConn on 3-pointer. That’s the only thing that I’ve seen remotely close as a player and coach to what happened to us against Clark.”
Princeton was on the verge of blowing out Clark in the first half, but foul trouble to two of the Panthers’ guards allowed the Cougars to finish the half on an 8-0 run. The Panthers regrouped and went ahead by as many as eight points in the second half, but foul trouble again became an issue for Princeton and that allowed the Cougars to make a late rally before winning in overtime.
That was the only real adversity that Princeton faced throughout the Showcase.
The Panthers’ defense overwhelmed Princeton’s first two opponents, cruising to a 55-19 victory against A&M Consolidated to commence the Showcase on June 27, followed by a 49-18 rout of Brazoswood the following morning.
“We were flying all over the place defensively,” Lockman said. “The other teams were athletic but were not super deep, which falls into our strength. We did what we were supposed to do.”
Princeton has improved in each of its first two seasons in Class 6A, improving from two district wins during the 2024-25 season to eight this year, including a 61-59 upset win over Co-District 6-6A champion Allen. However, the Panthers fell short of making the playoffs.
But with four returning seniors who have three years of varsity experience, three juniors with two years and two sophomores with one, Lockman believes this upcoming season could be the one in which his Panthers snap a six-year playoff drought dating back to the 2019-20 season.
Lockman said that incoming seniors Oluwafisayomi Falowo and Huey Newberry, along with junior Bryan Omwenga, have all had phenomenal summers.
“I think that we could be really good defensively,” Lockman said. “If we can hit some 3-pointers, we could compete for a district championship.”
Princeton’s potential was on full display at a camp at TCU in early June, with the Panthers winning all four games by at least 15 points.
“We played really well,” Lockman said. “It was nice being able to play schools away from our area and see some different competition.”
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