FRISCO:  The Varsity Boys Basketball team faced the task of defeating Bishop Lynch for a fourth time this year on Tuesday night as the Cardinals and Friars battled it out in the TAPPS State Semi-Finals.  Heading into last night's matchup, John Paul II had won all three previous games this season, although the scores got closer each game.  The Cards won by six in early February, then pulled out a one-point win over Lynch in the regular season finale on a last second shot by Jaylon Tyson, so everyone knew Tuesday would be close.  

Playing at brand new Rock Hill High School, part of Prosper ISD, the Cardinals and Friars both shone in the spotlight of primetime TAPPS 6A basketball.  JPII jumped out to an 8-2 advantage in the first quarter, but Lynch began chipping away and eventually regained the lead by the end of the quarter with a 14-5 run.  The Cards won the second quarter 15-14 but still found themselves behind 28-30 at halftime.  

John Paul II and Bishop Lynch traded points and possessions coming out of the break, neither team able to pull away for good, and the two sides both logged 12 points in the third quarter.  Down 40-42 with one quarter left, the Cardinals struggled to get stops felt the game start to slip away.  Trailing by as much as eight with less than four minutes to go, the comeback was on.  JPII made a gutsy attempt to wrestle the lead away from the Friars with a number of clutch shots coming from Tyson and Manny Obaseki, as well as a pair of huge buckets from Nick Kendall and Cameron Brown in the last two minutes.  The Cardinals closed the gap with a pair of turnovers and brought the score to 54-55.  Forced to foul inside the final minute, the Cardinals ran out of time and the Friars would go on to sink the game's final shots, winning 58-54.  

With the game so close throughout, the real story was the work done down low, as Lynch out-rebounded JPII 25 to 19, leading to a 24-20 advantage in points in the paint.  Additionally, the Friars earned three charge calls late in the game that put the Cards in foul trouble, leading to easy free throws, and BL outshot JPII at the line 18/21 to 8/11.  

Texas A&M commit Manny Obaseki provided the spark on both sides of the ball for the home team, registering 19 points, four rebounds, three assists, two steals, and a block.  Texas Tech signee Jaylon Tyson (13 pts, 3 reb, 1 stl) and junior Cam Corhen (11 pts, 2 reb, 1 stl, 1 elk) did most of the damage on offense for the Cardinals.  Cameron Brown (4 pts, 2 reb, 2 ast), Elijah Obaseki (4 pts, 3 reb), and Nick Kendall (3 pts, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl) rounded out the box score for John Paul II, providing clutch shooting late in the game.  

Talking after the tough loss, head coach Dan Lee said there's still much to celebrate with this squad.  "Going 65-3 over two years is amazing.  These seniors have poured everything they have into our program and I am proud of what we have been able to accomplish."  The Cardinals outscored their opponents by more than 16 points per game this season, while going undefeated in TAPPS district play for the second year in a row.  

Despite not reaching the final mountaintop, Lee spoke encouragingly about the future.  "JPII Basketball is on the map and they have laid the foundation for the future and we will be back."  As Lee said, there is much to look forward to, as the Cardinals will return six key members of this year's squad, including Cameron Corhen, who is gaining major traction on the recruiting trail and just picked up an offer from The University of Florida.  

Sophomores Drew Forkner and Gabe Warren both played big minutes down the stretch and earned the trust of their head coach, and will battle for starting spots up for grabs.  In addition, junior Elijah Obaseki, who developed into a lockdown defender this year, will step further into the spotlight and together with Corhen will be the team's main scoring options next season.  Further, junior big man Jacob Hernandez and sophomore wing Myles Archibald are both anticipating increased workloads in 2021-2022.  

In the end, the Cardinals finish the pandemic-riddled season with a 25-2 record overall including a perfect 6-0 in district play.