Schools 
Ellison coach Alberto Jones isn't one to get comfortable.
It doesn't matter if his Eagles are leading by 30 or have a two-game cushion in the district standings.
"For playoff implications this was a huge one for us," Jones said. "Really, I don't look at it as a cushion, though. As soon as you look at it that way the next thing you know the cushion is gone."
Regardless, the Eagles have a bit of a cushion now as they blew out Temple 69-44 on Friday at Ellison. And thanks to a Shoemaker loss to Copperas Cove, Ellison takes over third place in District 12-5A with three games left to play, including a matchup against the Grey Wolves on Tuesday.
"We wanted to win four of our last five. We have the first two; now we want to be greedy and try to win all three," said Jones, whose team finishes with Bryan and A&M Consolidated in addition to Shoemaker.
Using a four-guard lineup to utilize its speed to dominate defensively, Ellison forced Temple into 21 turnovers. The Eagles converted in transition, too, scoring 24 points off its fast-break opportunities.
"It was real effective. We started four guards so we knew we had to get out and run because we don't play well in a half-court set when we play four guards," Jones said. "The guys clicked at the same time."
The blowout win didn't have any resemblance to Ellison's 84-82 win when the two teams met in Temple in the first half of district play.
"Both teams shot a whole lot of free throws last time and I thought they called it a lot closer," Jones said. "This game, I also thought we were a whole lot sharper. We also did a better job on Avery (Polchinski) than last time."
Polchinski, who scored 31 points in the first meeting, was held to only four this time around.
Malik Hawkins and Jessie James led Ellison with 13 points each as the Eagles distributed the ball to 10 different scorers, racking up assists on 15 of their 30 baskets. Tyree King led Ellison with five assists.
"He is huge for us because he is our one true point guard," Jones said. "Ojai is a one-two even though he has been playing the one all year. Now, he can move over to the two where he is more comfortable."
Ellison only led 10-9 midway through the first quarter. However, a 15-0 run sparked the blowout. Hawkins got things going for the Eagles with a 3-pointer from the wing and then traded off with Ojai Black, who had 10 points, as they led back-to-back transition baskets.
Hawkins finished off the run, hitting a tear drop shot in the middle of the lane to put Ellison up 25-9.
Zach Behr hit a 3-pointer to end the onslaught, but the Eagles got right back after it, outscoring Temple 9-2 to end the half and take a 40-16 lead.
"Today was just a statement game," Black said. "We knew we had to do well to make it to the playoffs."
James Jessie took it from there, scoring 10 of his 13 in the third quarter.
"They weren't getting back on defense. So with us being a fast team, we knew we could run and we got a lot of points in transition," Jessie said. "They were giving me each side. They decided to play me straight up and I decided to just go. "The playoffs were in my head."
