High school basketball: No. 3 Plano East secures dominant 79-52 victory over Allen in Texas state tournament

No. 3 Plano East (Plano) continued their dominant play in the Texas state tournament Tuesday night as the Panthers blew past Allen 79-52 paced by 17 points apiece from senior guard Xavier Miller and junior forward D.J. Hall.

Plano East improved to 36-0 on the season with the win and advance to the fourth round of the UIL Class 6A state tournament where they will face off against V.R. Eaton (Fort Worth) on Friday. Check out the full bracket here.

The unbeaten Panthers appeared to be in control throughout the wire-to-wire victory despite multiple attempts to cut the deficit late in the third quarter and early in the fourth period from Allen.

Plano East led 13-8 at the end of the first quarter, 33-17 at halftime and 50-38 at the end of the third quarter of the impressive showing.

Plano East has won three postseason contests by an average of 31 points per contest and are the favorites to capture their first state title in program history this season.

The dominant group defeated Rock Hill (Frisco) 88-51 in the first round and Highland Park (Dallas) 74-45 in the second round prior to their 27-point victory Tuesday night.

After re-joining MaxPreps handpicked top 100 rankings this week at No. 90, Allen ends the year with a record of 32-6. The Eagles also lost their first game of their 2023-24 campaign to Plano East 80-70 back on Nov. 11.