The bi-district round of the 5A boys basketball playoffs began Tuesday night as District 18-5A's Alief Taylor defeated District 17-5A's Cypress Ridge, 83-66, at Cinco Ranch.

The Lions (26-11) had the lead at the end of the first thanks to their three-point shot. Kalif Bakare, Trevor King, Kendrick Murray, and Denzelle Stevenson twice, sank a three-point basket for 18 of the Lions’ 24 points.

“(Denzelle Stevenson) is as good a shooter as anyone in Houston,” Alief Taylor coach Jeff Durnford said. “He averages about four threes a game. We really got a lot of contributions from the guys tonight.”

Taylor really jumped in front of the Rams in the second, scoring 26 extra points. Again, the Lions hit the three-point shot, this time for nine points. Cy Ridge was held to only six points.

“We came out and shot the ball extremely well and that opened things up for us,” Durnford said. “We’ve been on a good run of shooting the ball.”

Taylor had two big runs that quarter.

Brian Anderson hit his first three of the game followed by two baskets from Stanley Taiwo and then another three from Anderson. To end the half, Taylor’s Christian Salazar dropped in the first basket of the following 11-point run to end the half with a 26-point lead.

In the third, Taylor jumped to a 30-point lead with another three by Bakare and maintained that lead the rest of the quarter. 

Cy Ridge’s Brandon Smith was fouled while making a 3-pointer and converted the free throw. Teammate Mitch Miller sank a basket to close the gap on Taylor by a few points. Curtis Slater shot two more threes for the Rams but the team just couldn’t gain any ground on Taylor.

“This is our second time in the playoffs since the school opened,” Durnford said. “We made it to the second game and lost to Cy Falls. So the kids are excited and I’m really proud of them.”

Alief Taylor will face the winner of Tuesday's Eisenhower-Lamar game later this week.

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