Hendrickson uses big fourth quarter to top Cedar Creek in District 23-5A opener

PFLUGERVILLE — It might not have been intentional, but Hendrickson senior Amir Thompson’s two-handed windmill dunk early in the fourth quarter Thursday was impressive nonetheless.

Coming on a breakaway after a steal, it was part of a 26-point outburst by the Hawks as they rallied for a 72-68 win over Cedar Creek in the District 23-5A opener for both teams at Hendrickson High School.

“I was feeling bouncy earlier today, and I got the fast break and looked behind me and didn’t see anybody,” said Thompson, who quietly has become one of the better players in Central Texas the past two years. “I tried to do a windmill, and the ball slipped on my hand. So I put two hands on it, and I’ve never done that in my life.”

There's a first time for everything, and Thompson succeeded wildly as the play sent the Hendrickson student section into a frenzy and gave the Hawks an energy boost.

After entering the fourth quarter trailing 53-46, Hendrickson drew within 53-52 on Thompson’s dunk, and it went on a 21-6 run to take control.

“I think that kind of helped lead the charge,” said Thompson, who had 10 of his 22 points in the fourth. “And this was a great win against a great team.”

The game played out at a frenetic pace, with Cedar Creek stars Robert Conrad and Kenji Franklin engaging in a bit of a scoring back-and-forth with Thompson and Chidera Ukachukwu, who led the Hawks with 24 points.

Conrad finished with a game-high 29 points and Franklin poured in 26 points, but Hendrickson’s defense was at its best down the stretch.

“We were good on the ball for the entirety of the fourth quarter,” Thompson said. “Earlier in the game, our defense wasn’t the best, but it gradually got better.”

Ukachukwu’s free throws gave the Hawks a 60-59 lead with four minutes to play, and after baskets by Tristan Thomas and Clint Smith, Thompson’s old-fashioned 3-point play put them ahead by eight and capped their impressive run.

Cedar Creek (12-5, 0-1) never got closer than four the rest of the way.

“Something that we’ve really been repping and harping on is finishing games,” said Hendrickson coach Kennon Dvorak, a former Hutto assistant who is in his third year leading the Hawks. “In the past we’ve kind of struggled to finish games, no matter whether we were up or down. We had focus in the fourth quarter, and we kept the intensity that we knew we were going to need to come out on top.”

In a loaded eight-team district that appears to have seven good teams fighting for four playoff spots, every win is extremely valuable, even one on opening night that is a standalone compared with the rest of the district slate after New Year’s.

Dvorak noted that Hendrickson defending its home court and getting a win against a team like Cedar Creek, which is considered one of the district's top four teams, was critical.

“We knew it was going to be tough as they’ve got two phenomenal players and a great coach” in Vernon Maxwell, Dvorak said. “It’s a huge win. You open against one of the best teams in the district, have some adversity and find out some things about ourselves that we can fight, scratch and claw and close games.”

Hendrickson (11-6, 1-0), like most teams, will take part in a tournament next week before resuming district play with two games in three days starting Jan. 3.

And though he might not do a two-handed windmill dunk every district game the rest of the way, Thompson is eager to see how good the Hawks can be.

“I like our potential and our ceiling,” he said. “We have so many pieces that … I think we can go far.”

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This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Hendrickson tops Cedar Creek in District 23-5A boys basketball opener