Klein, Spring close out regular season Tuesday

One or possibly two boys basketball playoff berths could be on the line when Spring visits Klein in this regular-season finale, and Klein will be looking for a season sweep after stopping the Lions in the first round.

Another 13-5A contest involving Westfield could also come into play in determining the district's postseason representatives, but no matter how it ends, Dekaney and Klein Forest will move on as the district's top two seeds when the playoffs begin next week.

ABOUT THE GAME

• Matchup: Spring at Klein

• When: 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 15

• Where: Klein High School

• What's at stake: District 13-5A playoff positioning

• Klein players to watch: G Eric Rowe, G Chris Loving, P Kyle Szymanski, G Cooper Hudson, G Rex Baxter, G Austin Shockley, G John Moore, P Andrew Kelley, G Blake Berlin, P David Gerhart

• Spring players to watch: G-F Nevin Johnson, G-W Derrick Gordon, G-W Taryk Hodge, W Deosic West, P Jalen West

TEAM HIGHLIGHTS

• Klein: Depending on what went down last week, the Bearkats could already have a playoff berth in hand, or they might be battling for one of the two final postseason berths in what has been a wild scramble that's also involved Spring and Westfield (Westfield is in action at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 15, at Tomball) ... Heading into the final week of action, the Bearkats had a one-game lead over Westfield and Spring for third place ... Klein won 69-58 at Spring in the first round on Jan. 21 ... Klein held off Tomball 68-66 in overtime and fell to first-place Dekaney 84-59 in recent 13-5A outings. Loving scored 15, Shockley 13, Szymanski and Gerhart had 12 apiece, and Rowe finished with 10 against Tomball, and Rowe had 15 points, Szymanski 12, and Loving and Baxter 10 each against Dekaney ... The Bearkats qualified for the playoffs with a fourth-place finish in 13-5A a year ago and fell to Oak Ridge 65-64 in a postseason opener.

• Spring: In the first-round loss to Klein, the Lions were led by Johnson's 19 points, and he was the only Spring player to reach double figures ... The Lions downed Westfield 53-48 in a key second-round battle with Johnson scoring 14, and Deosic West and Jalen West chipping in 10 apiece ... Johnson is the top scorer with a 20.0 average, and is followed by Deosic West (8.7), Gordon (8.6) and Jalen West (6.3). Johnson also leads in rebounds with a 5.8 clip ... Spring beat out Klein Forest and Westfield by one game for last season's 13-5A title. The Lions went on to beat New Caney 82-62, Cedar Park Vista Ridge 56-50 and Oak Ridge 60-51 before being edged 52-50 by Temple in the Class 5A Region II semifinals.