6 North Texas Boys Hoops Teams State Bound

FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) – McDonald's All-American Marcus Smart made the game saving defensive play to lead defending Class 5A state champion Flower Mound Marcus to a 39-38 regional championship win over South Grand Prairie in Fort Worth Saturday, propelling the Marauders to their third straight trip to the UIL State Tournament in Austin.

Marcus is one of six Dallas-Fort Worth area high schools that will be represented in this week's state tourney. The Marauders will be joined by Garland Naaman Forest in Class 5A, Denton Ryan and Dallas Kimball in 4A, Argyle in 3A, and Brock in 2A.

Smart, who will play college basketball at Oklahoma State, was Marcus' leading scorer with 19 points, but it was his defense that sealed a third straight regional championship for his team. Smart blocked a 3-point attempt by SGP's Jovan Austin as time expired. The Marauders (37-2) will now shoot for their second straight state title.

Here's the schedule for North Texas teams in the UIL Boys Basketball State Tournament in Austin:

Thursday

Class 3A

2 p.m. - Argyle vs. Lubbock Estacado

Finals - Saturday, 10 a.m.

Clas 4A

7 p.m. - Kimball vs. Alamo Heights

8:30 p.m. - Denton Ryan vs. Houston Yates

Finals - Saturday, 3:30 p.m.

Friday

Class 2A

8:30 a.m. - Brock vs. San Antonio Cole

Finals - Saturday, 2 p.m.

Class 5A

8:30 p.m. - FM Marcus vs. Garland Naaman Forest

Finals - Saturday, 8:30 p.m.