The Houston Clippers, made up of a team from the La Porte and Friendswood areas, defeated the Port Arthur Heat 44-35 in the championship game of the Slo-Motion Juneteenth basketball tournament Sunday at Yates High School.

“It was a pretty good tournament,” Clippers coach Drew Parker said. “This is the second time we’ve played this team, and we beat them by 20. They made some good adjustments and did a good job.”

The Clippers held a commanding 15-point lead for much of the game, but the Heat pulled within seven with less than a minute left.

Forward Cedric Jones led the Clippers with 11 points, nine of them in the second half.

“Cedric is going to be a junior at La Porte, and he’s been overshadowed by a lot of players,” Parker said. “We really need him because he’s a really good player. You can see that in his athletic ability.”

La Porte teammates Drew Parker and Randy Collins also chipped in with nine points apiece, while the Heat – consisting of Port Arthur Memorial players – were led by JeKore Tyler and Wendell Pierre, both of whom scored nine points.

The Clippers beat the Houston HoopStars 80-29 in the semifinals, while the Heat beat Houston Flight 54-50.

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