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Kobe Magee was as smooth as his fallen friend, who surely would have been proud of his performance Monday night.
Brandeis’ senior point guard played what could have been his final high school game, a Class 6A bidistrict playoff against Clemens at Alamo Convocation Center, in honor of one of his friends from Stinson Middle School. Magee knew him only by his nickname, “Smooth,” and had lost touch with him until they reconnected on social media earlier this school year. Magee said his friend, who was living in Ohio, died in an automobile accident earlier this season.
Magee wrote “R.I.P. Smooth” on the side of his sneakers before Monday’s game and promptly scored the first four points as the Broncos built a big early lead. The 6-foot UTEP signee finished with a game-high 27 points in an 81-61 win.
“I felt like it would be a cool thing to do, because I used to be good friends with him in middle school,” Magee said. “My last couple high school games, I’m going to play for him.”
Magee and Brandeis (19-11), No. 3 in the final Express-News regular-season rankings, will get at least one more game. The District 28-6A co-champion next faces the winner of Tuesday’s first-round playoff between Madison and Lake Travis.
Clemens (21-10), which had made three consecutive appearances in the Region IV tournament, fell behind 9-0 and could not recover. The Buffaloes got 13 points off the bench from Paul Dixon-Nealy and 12 from starter Anthony Brooks, a senior who came off the court with a knee injury late in the game.
Clemens tried to rely on outside shooting throughout the game but made only five 3-point goals.
“We had the looks,” Dixon-Nealy said. “We just couldn’t hit them.”
Magee created many of his own shots, both from long and close range, with nifty dribbling around the perimeter and drives to the basket. The Buffs’ defense paid him more and more attention as the game went on, so Magee started looking for open teammates as well.
That helped Matt McCary finish with 21 points and Avery Theus with 18.
“Early I got in the paint and scored a few buckets, and they started collapsing on me,” Magee said. “That’s when I found my teammates, and they knocked down their shots.”
Magee knocked down plenty as well, making 11 field goals including two from 3-point range. So despite going 3 of 7 from the free-throw line, he surpassed his season scoring average by nearly eight points.
Magee said he was motivated by the gravity of the moment and the memory of his friend.
“It was hard guarding Magee,” Clemens point guard Darius Van Dyke said. “He’s a really good player.”
adam.zuvanich@express-news.net
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