6 Houston-area schools finish as runners-up at boys' state basketball tournament

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The Houston area was well represented at the high school boys' state basketball tournament in San Antonio.

Six schools played in the state championship game, but none were able to bring home the title.

Katy Jordan and Bellaire, both playing in the 6A classification, made school history by playing in the big game for the first time.

Fort Bend Marshall played in its second state final in school history but lost to Mansfield Summit 54-47 in the 5A Division II.

Houston ISD was well represented, sending three schools to state for the first time.

Dallas Kimball beat Booker T. Washington in the 4A Division I final. Wheatley couldn't hold on to their lead and lost late in the 4A Division II game to Kennedale.

Columbus lost to Tatum in the 3A Division I state final.

ABC13 wanted to celebrate the communities that set a goal to play for a state championship and made it there.

Nothing energizes a school community like a deep playoff run.

"We've always talked about fighting through adversity, and they did a magnificent job this year of fighting through adversity," Wheatley head coach David Burrell said.

Even in defeat, the accomplishment of making it to state and making history is celebrated.

"We had the whole city of Katy out here watching us play. We're going to keep our head up and keep fighting," Charlie Jones, head coach of Katy Jordan, said. "I know they are hurting right now, but they should be proud of what they did in a short time."

Jordan was among the state finalists for the first time in the school's short five-year history.

"Every game, 'they' said it was an upset for us, but we never thought it was," Bellaire senior Shelton Henderson said. "We always knew we were the better team coming pretty much every game."

The good teams stick together and get closer when they face adversity.

"You know, we've been led by a young man by the name of Sammy Johnson," Booker T. Washington head coach Jessie Shelton III said. "He has been part of the program all along."

The teams put in the work and sacrificed for the team's greater good.

"We put in a lot of work. We didn't want it to end the way it ended, but you just look back on it, and you just say, 'We tried our best,'" Bellaire senior Anthony Andrews III said.

Columbus, Booker T. Washington, Wheatley, Fort Bend Marshall, Katy Jordan, and Bellaire fought on the biggest stage in high school sports for their community and each other.

"This game was disappointing, but I'm proud of where we've been and where we got to," Marshall Kevin Sargeant said.

"I wouldn't want to do it with anyone, anyone else in the city," Jordan senior Jaden Holt added.

Kohlman Dutton of Bellaire fought back from an ACL injury to help his team finish state runners-up.

"Everybody wrote us off. Everybody wrote me off. They said we weren't good enough," Dutton said. "We stuck to one thing the entire season and didn't change who we were. The rest of the team, the goofball that didn't play, they contributed to this, and it's been a journey."