Below: J. Michael Reese as seen in ESPN The Magazine during the summer of his rising 8th grade year. Now 2 1/2 years later he's coming off All State Honors, the only freshman to do so in the State of Texas. 
I went all the way to Bryan, TX tonight and a soccer game broke out...well, not quite. But, the Vikings did hold Temple to 4 first quarter points and ultimately at the half Bryan led 23-13. This is the least hard nosed Bryan squad I've ever seen. Perhaps it was just a bad half, but I just didn't see the fire I've become accustomed to in a John Reese coached team. Temple had double digit first half turnovers, but they were for the most part unforced and not caused by Bryan's trademark full court pressure. On top of that, Reese was held scoreless. Perhaps for the first time in his high school career...and maybe ever???? The best player on the court in the first half was 2010 W Terrance Tucker who had 9 rebounds in the half. It was great to see my old friend, Coach Reese looking healthy after the unexpected heart attack he suffered back in the fall of 2008. I also had a chance to visit with new Temple Coach Tim Thomas, no stranger to the hardwood. He had taken a few years off in an administrative capacity but now he's back behind the bench having come from a successful coaching career at Lubbock Estacado.
In the 3rd quarter, Bryan picked up the pace and now their press has exposed the Temple backcourt. Turnovers, along with 3 point shooting by Seniors Jecory Washington and Alan Green (who both had a pair) is causing this to be a rout, 45-20. This one's in the books, with nothing much to add. Underclassmen 2012 Avery Polchinski of Temple and Bryan frosh, Chris Johnson both show signs of future stardom. Senior forward Aaron Burke led all scorers with 11 points. Senior P Terrance Tucker, who would be a nice JuCo catch had 6 points and an impressive 15 rebounds and 3 blocked shots. Young Reese was held to 3 points. I say held, but he really just cruised through this one. They didn't need him to score. so he elected to play the role of playmaker. He finished with 9 assists but could easily have had 5 more if his team mates had finished.
Senior F Donald Robinson had 10 points to lead Temple. I'd heard good things about this Temple group, but tonight they were flat. I'll reserve major judgment for now.
Bryan 9-14-22-12-57
Temple 4-9-7-14-34
