Waco Meyer wins first boys 2A state basketball championship in thriller over Hearne; live updates, recap

Jordan Bradley scores 17, named finals MVP

No. 15 Hearne takes on Waco Meyer in the boys Class 2A Division I state basketball championship at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 6 at The Alamodome in San Antonio. / SBLive

History will be made Thursday in the Texas University Interscholastic League (UIL) Class 2A Division I state championship, as No. 15 Hearne and Waco Meyer compete in the state finals for the first time in either program’s history.

Opening tip is slated for 7 p.m. at The Aalamodome in San Antonio.

Waco Meyer (36-3) is on a magical run, having won its last 17 games. The Ravens’ only losses this season are to 4A Lorena (55-35 on Nov. 12), Louisiana Class C power Gibson-Coleman (52-50 on Nov. 20) and Waco’s Vanguard College Prep (53-52 on Dec. 27).

The Ravens have a potent offense. They’ve scored 2,689 points this season while their defense has surrendered 1,780.

Meyer opened these playoffs by draining Poolville 72-55 in the first round before making the beat go 66-61 in besting Cisco in the Area championship. The Ravens were unpleasant to Mt. Pleasant, breaking Harts Bluff 47-39 in the region semifinals before opening eyes in the Region 2-2A championship on Feb. 28 with a 42-40 win over No. 9 Seymour.

The Ravens tangled Ropes 58-51 in the state semifinal on March 4.

Hearne, meanwhile, is competing in the state final for the first time in program history and has won six straight entering Thursday’s final. The Eagles’ were last quieted on Feb. 7 in a loss to Mumford – who went on to reach the Region 2-2A finals this season.

Prior to that, they’d won eight straight with their previous loss coming to 5A Killeen Chaparral on Jan. 3. None of their other losses this season have come against UIL schools.

Hearne paved itself a much smoother path to the finals, getting through Sabine Pass 62-29 in the first round, smashing Flatonia 78-46 in the Area championship, sinking Santa Maria 75-47 in the region semifinals, docking Port Aransas 52-47 in the Region 4-2A final and hooking Marlin 58-48 in the semifinals.

The Eagles have three players averaging double figures in scoring, but senior power forward Dereion Mitchell (6-foot-4) leads the way. He comes in averaging 16.1 points and 12.1 rebounds across 31 games. Junior guard Cristian Robinson (5-10) comes in averaging a team-high 16.2 points per game, while junior forward Kellen Bowser (6-3) averages 10.6 points and 7.1 rebounds.

Class 2A-I boys bracket:

Class 2A Division I

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Hearne vs. Waco Meyer: Texas UIL boys 2A Division I basketball state championship; live scoring, updates

We're about set for opening tip. Here are the starting lineups:

Hearne: Quen'Davion Straughter, Cristian Robinson, Zayden Mercer, Dereion Mitchell, Kellen Bowser.

Meyer: Keng Taylor, Jordan Bradley, Ve'Shawn Long, Jordan Sewell, David Tran

FIRST QUARTER

Meyer gets a free throw from Long and we're off. Meyer 1, Hearne 0.

Mitchell hits a jumper and Hearne leads 2-1.

Mitchell and Long have traded a pair of baskets each and it's 4-4 with 5:51 left in the first quarter.

Mitchell and Long trade baskets again. It's 6-6 with 4:12 to go in the quarter.

Jordan Bradley gets on the board for Meyer and takes an 8-6 lead, but Bowser ties it back up on a long jumper at the 3:05 mark for Hearne.

Langham makes two free throws with 1:34 to go in the quarter and it's 10-8, Hearne. Meyer hasn't scored in the last 3 minutes, nine seconds.

Meyer just missed four shots in a span of 15 seconds and still has not scored in nearly four minutes.

Bradley makes a pair of free throws to tie it, but Mitchell scores with two seconds left and Hearne leads 12-10 at the end of the first quarter.

End 1: Hearne 12, Meyer 10.

SECOND QUARTER

Long comes out of the break on fire. He scores a jumper and then drains a 3-pointer and Bradley scores on a layup. Timeout with 6:22 left in the half. Meyer 17, Hearne 12.

Bradley drains a long trey with 5:09 left in the half and the barrage continues. Meyer leads 20-12.

Navarro makes a 3-pointer with 4:04 left and Meyer leads 23-14.

Bowser hits a trey of his own for Hearne to cut it to 23-17 with 3:22 left.

This game has been action-packed. Both teams are leaving it all on the floor and we've seen some great passing from both teams today.

Bowser drives and scores for Hearne and Robinson follows soon after with a put-back and Hearne is within one. It's 23-22, Meyer, with 17 seconds left in the half. Sewell and Bradley each make a pair of free throws in the final 17 seconds and Meyer takes a 27-22 lead into halftime.

Keng Taylor had another great pass there at the end of the half. He's made several tremendous passes today.

Halftime: Waco Meyer 27, Hearne 22

Halftime notes: Meyer leads despite shooting just 25 percent from the field (8 for 32) in the first half. They shot 50 percent (4 of 8) on 3-point attempts. ... Jordan Bradley and Ve'Shawn Long lead Meyer with 11 point each. ... Hearne also struggled from the floor, shooting 28.6 percent (8 for 28). ... Kellen Bowser has nine points for Hearne, while Dereion Mitchell has eight.

THIRD QUARTER

Mitchell scores on a jumper a minute into the second half for Hearne and cuts the deficit to 27-24.

Robinson scores on an open breakaway with 5:41 to go and attacks and scores again on an easy layup with 5:16 left to give Hearne a 28-27 lead.

After Sewell ties it on a free throw, Mitchell responds with a jumper at the 4:08 mark for Hearne to take the lead back, but Bradley tied it at 30 with a basket just 10 seconds later.

After some tensions boil over, Keng Taylor scores on a jumper to give Meyer a 34-32 lead.

Bradley gets to the basket with 13 seconds left in the third to give Meyer a 36-32 lead at the end of the quarter.

End 3: Waco Meyer 36, Hearne 32

FOURTH QUARTER

Mitchell scores just five seconds into the fourth quarter for Hearne trails 36-34. Mitchell was fouled on the play and knocks down the free throw to make it 36-35.

Sewell gets his first basket of the game and Mitchell drains a 3-pointer off a turnover to make it 41-35 with 7:13 to go.

Mitchell scores on a tip-in, but Bradley answers for Meyer with a basket off the glass and it's 45-37 with 5:45 to go.

After Taylor hits a jumper to make it 47-37, Robinson answers with a 3-pointer for Hearne to trim the defici to 47-40 with 4:51 to go.

Robinson sinks another trey with 3:57 to go and suddenly Hearne trails 47-43.

Montre Mitchell responds with a huge 3 for Meyer with 3:19 left to make it 50-43.

Hearne hasn't scored in the last 2:01. There's 1:56 to go. It's still 50-43.

Robinson makes two free throws for Hearne with 1:31 to go and it's 50-45. Sewell follows with one free throw with 1:13 left to extend it to 51-45.

Dereion Mitchell rips down an offensive rebound and puts it in for Hearne with 1:02 left to cut it to 51-47, then scores again with 49 seconds to go and it's 51-49.

Wow. Off a huge block that gives the ball back to Hearne with 29 seconds left, Jordan Sewell comes away with a huge steal with 19 seconds left. Timeout by Meyer with possession and only 13 seconds left. What a turn, or, a bunch of turns, there.

Jordan Sewell makes two free throws with five seconds left and that will end this game.

Final: Waco Meyer 53, Hearne 49

Recap

Waco Meyer didn't score a field goal in the final 3 minutes, 19 seconds of regulation, but played incredible defense and held on to win the first state championship in boys program history.

Both teams showed out defensively, making life tough offensively for both squads. Despite that, junior Jordan Bradley took home 2A-II finals MVP after scoring 17 points and pulling down six boards. Ve'Shawn Long chipped in 13 points for Meyer, while Jordan Sewell and Montre Mitchell added eight each, Keng Taylor had four and Mark Navarro three.

Sewell also had nine rebounds and three steals.

2AD1 Championship 🏆 | #UILState

Waco Meyer 53
Hearne 49

Waco Meyer caps off day 1 of the State Tournament with a thrilling win - using two Jordan Sewell FTs with 5.8 seconds left to seal the title.

This game was played at a frantic pace. Both teams combined to take 119 shots… pic.twitter.com/8PFpzdm0t8

— Lyndon Cook 🔗 (@GASOLyndon) March 7, 2025

Despite the loss, Hearne's Dereion Mitchell was easily the most dominant player in the game. He led all scorers with 21 points and all defenders with 16 rebounds and four blocks. Teammate Cristian Robinson had 15 points, while Kellen Bowser added nine points, eight rebounds and three blocks and Zayden Mercer and Kemon Langham had two points apiece. Mercer also added nine boards.