Life Waxahachie senior Vernon Johnson (pictured) scored a game-high 21 points Friday in the Mustangs' district opener against Ferris. (Fred Phipps/KBEC Sports)

Johnson scores 21 in Life Waxahachie’s district-opening win against Ferris

Travis M. Smith January 19, 2020 Boys Basketball, Life Waxahachie High School 2,890 Views

By Travis M. Smith | KBEC Sports

The Life Waxahachie Mustangs ran away from Ferris with a District 17-4A road win Friday.

The Mustangs opened by outscoring the Yellowjackets 25-3 in the first quarter and carried a 27-15 advantage into halftime. Life Waxahachie closed out the game with 25 points in the second half for the 52-28 victory.

Following the win, Life Waxahachie head boys’ basketball coach Eddie Berumen told KBEC Sports that his team played near-perfect “Mustang basketball.”

“I think our defensive intensity was good and exactly what we needed to come out with,” Berumen said. “We try to make it all about the team and not the ‘me’ and I think the kids go about it the same way.”

He added, “[…] I think we played well and we came out with a lot of intensity. Ferris is a great team, well-coached and they have a great future with almost everyone coming back next year. They are going to be right in the thick of the race, it’s going to be a dogfight, and I guarantee you that they are going to shoot the ball better the next time we play.”

Life Waxahachie senior Vernon Johnson, who recently returned from a broken bone in his leg suffered last season, scored 12 of his team-high 21 points in the second quarter.

Ferris head boys’ basketball coach Jerrel Chumley told KBEC Sports that he thought the Yellowjackets began the game slowly. He did, however, feel that the Ferris boys picked up the pace and began to match the intensity of Life Waxahachie as the game wore on.

“For us to be successful, we have to play hard and practice hard and compete hard in practice so that when we get into the game, we are able to compete at a high level.”

Gage Mayfield added 12 points for the Mustangs, while Blane Stacy (11), Drake Heads (2) and Jarius Morrison (2) also contributed in the scoring column.

Matthew Nunez scored eight points to lead the Yellowjackets, followed closely by seven points scored by Demarcus Rankin.

Kaleb Pointer scored five points, Tommy Dixson had four, and Carter Fagan and Trey Johnston both added two points.

“Our freshman off of the bench, Tommy Dixson, really stepped up tonight,” Chumley added. “He gave us some quality minutes when our starters didn’t play well. It was a big game for him as a freshman and he really stepped up to give us some minutes.”

The victory improved Life Waxahachie to 19-8 on the season, while Ferris fell to 20-5 as the Yellowjackets have now lost two of their last three games.

Friday’s tilt was the first for either team in 17-4A this season.