High School

Lowery scores 19, Denton Guyer rolls College Park to advance to 6A Division II state basketball championship

Guyer advances to state finals for first time in program history

Levi Payton

D.J. Majors and Denton Guyer take on The Woodlands College Park in a 6A Division II semifinal of the Texas UIL playoff.
D.J. Majors and Denton Guyer take on The Woodlands College Park in a 6A Division II semifinal of the Texas UIL playoff. / Oladipo Awowale

Denton Guyer vs. The Woodlands College Park (29-9)

There should be plenty of action when No. 11 Denton Guyer takes on The Woodlands College Park in the University Interscholastic League (UIL) 6A Division II state basketball semifinal at Waco Midway High School.

Opening tip is slated for 7 p.m., Tuesday, March 4, and you can follow along below as High School on SI and SBLive Texas provides live updates of the game, or you can follow along on NFHS Network.

The game tips at 7 p.m. at Waco Midway High School.

The winner will advance to the finals at the Alamodome in San Antonio where they’ll face the winner of Tuesday’s other semifinal between No. 10 Katy Jordan and San Antonio Harlan.

Guyer (32-7) is making its first trek this far into the playoffs. The program had never been past the regional finals round prior to its 64-43 victory over Wolfforth Frenship last week to claim the Region 1 championship.

The Wildcats beat Crowley 72-54 in the Region 1 semifinals and breezed past McKinney 75-60 in the first round, but their toughest task to date in these playoffs came against Dallas Jesuit when they survived a 51-48 scare in the Area championship.

The Wildcats are led by 6-foot-2 senior point guard Jordan Lowery, who is ranked the No. 32 point guard in the nation by 247Sports. A UT-Arlington commit, Lowery is averaging 16.1 points and 3.6 assists in his return to Guyer.

Jordan Lowery
Jordan Lowery (0) prepares to shoot a free throw for Team Thad during a game against Team Bradley Beal Elite during the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League on Friday, April 26, 2024, at the Memphis Sports & Event Center in Memphis, Tenn. Lowery returned to Guyer this season and leads the Wildcats into today's state semifinal. / Stu Boyd II-The Commercial Appeal / USA TODAY NETWORK

A Nike Elite Youth Basketball athlete, Lowery transferred back to Guyer this season after spending his junior year at North Carolina’s Winston Salem Christian Prep, and he’ll draw a lot of focus from the Cavaliers defense.

They’ll also have to account for 6-4 junior sharpshooter Silas Rodriguez, who averages 41 percent on 3-point attempts and 15.7 points per game.

The Cavaliers, meanwhile, have won eight straight and 13 of their last 14 games. Their last loss came to Willis (80-75) on Jan. 24, which went on to lose to Horn 52-47 in the Region 2 semifinals.

Grinnell commit, Tyler Copes (6-9 center) and 6-3 combo guard DJ Neal anchor the defense for the Wildcats.

College Park, in turn, beat Horn 66-63 to win the Region 2 championship and advance to Tuesday’s semifinal. The Cavaliers had to fight to make it out of the first two rounds before smacking Wylie East 60-39 in the Region 2 semifinals.

They survived a 72-68 nail-biter against Spring in the first round and then escaped Spring Klein Collins 69-68 in the Area championship.

The Cavaliers have a pair of seniors who do the lion’s share of the work for their offense, as Aiden Buckmon (6-3 guard) and Colorado commit Ian Inman (6-5 guard) lead the way. Buckmon leads the team, averaging 19.8 points, 4.2 assists and 2.3 steals per game across 37 games. Inman, meanwhile, is averaging 18.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.9 steals across 34 games.

The teams have faced one like opponent this season. College Park lost its season opener to Humble Atascocita 69-68 on Nov. 9. Guyer beat Humble Atascocita 47-41 on Nov. 22.

More Texas UIL boys basketball playoff news:

Semifinal scoreboard: Texas boys state basketball playoff; Class 1A-6A Divisions I and II (03/03/2025 - 03/04/2025)

Semifinal brackets: Texas boys state basketball playoff; Class 1A-6A Divisions I and II (03/03/2025 - 03/04/2025)

Scoreboard: Texas UIL boys high school basketball Class 1A-6A Division I and II regional finals; updates

(11) Denton Guyer vs. The Woodlands College Park: Texas UIL boys state 6A Division II semifinal; live scoring, recap

Starting lineups:

Denton Guyer: Jordan Lowery, Silas Rodriguez, Mason White, DJ Neal, Tyler Copes

College Park: Quintyn Buckmon, Aiden Buckmon, Ian Inman, Evan Mason, Jacob Oman

FIRST PERIOD

After a bit of a late start to opening tip, Guyer comes out hot as Jordan Lowery hits a 3-pointer and Silas Rodriguez follows with a jumper to make it 5-0. Aiden Buckmon follows with a 3-pointer to get College Park on the board, but Mason White hit a trey of his own and Guyer leads 8-3.

College Park closes within 12-9, but DJ Neal buries a 3-pointer to make it 15-0 with 1 minute to play in the quarter.

Both teams hold off final salvos at the end of the first period and Guyer holds the lead.

End of the first quarter: Guyer 15, College Park 9

SECOND PERIOD

Mason White gets a tough basket to start the period, and DJ Neal follows with a basket off a steal in transition and Guyer now leads 19-9 with 7:25 left in the first half.

Guyer's defense has been suffocating in the first half today.

Ian Inman gets on the board. His first points, off a runner, makes it 19-11 with 5:20 left in the first half.

Lowery sinks a jumper to extend the Wildcats' lead back to 10. Timeout on the floor with 4:40 left in the half. Guyer leads College Park 21-11.

Tyler Copes hits a pair of free throws and it's 23-11.

Aiden Buckmon hits a jumper for College Park to cut the deficit to 23-13, but Mason White follows with a 3-pointer to extend Guyer's lead to 26-13.

Quintyn Buckman answers with a basket for the Cavaliers, but Silas Rodriguez hits a trey and it's 29-15.

College Park closes on a 6-0 run, capped on a buzzer-beating shot from three-quarters of the floor to make it 29-21 at the half.

Halftime: Guyer 29, College Park 21

THIRD PERIOD

Copes takes a dish from Lowery and scores an easy layup and Guyer leads 31-21 to open the second half. Copes has four points.

We're nearly three minutes into the second half and we've still only had one basket as both offenses are struggling to find the net.

Guyer is opening it up now. The Wildcats' offense has gotten hot.

FOURTH PERIOD

Guyer has opened up a 49-28 lead with 6:06 remaining.

DJ Neal scores again. Timeout with 5:05 remaining, Guyer leads 51-30.

Robert Matthews scores inside the paint for College Park, but Guyer still leads 51-34 with 4 minutes remaining.

Quintyn Buckmon drains a long trey with 3:30 to go and trims Guyer's lead to 53-37.

Timeout with 2:28 to go. Guyer leads College Park, 58-40.

This game has slowed to a snail's pace as Guyer has spent about every possession in the last 3 minutes at the free throw line.

Guyer leads 63-42 with 1 minute to go. The Wildcats have been to the free throw line six times in the last minute.

Final: Denton Guyer 67, The Woodlands College Park 44

Guyer's defense was outstanding from start to finish as the Wildcats punched their ticket to the state finals for the first time in program history. In his return to Guyer, Jordan Lowery helped lead his team to the finals with a game-high 14 points.

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Levi Payton
LEVI PAYTON

Levi’s sports journalism career began in 2005. A Missouri native, he’s won multiple Press Association awards for feature writing and has served as a writer and editor covering high school sports as well as working beats in professional baseball, NCAA football, basketball, baseball and soccer. If you have a good story, he’d love to tell it.

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