An All Saints Episcopal high school basketball player holds a gift during a pep rally for the high school basketball team at All Saints Episcopal School in Tyler, Texas, on Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017. The team is heading to Abilene for the TAPPS 5A state basketball semifinals. (Chelsea Purgahn/Tyler Morning Telegraph)

Going to state is becoming a trendy thing to do for the All Saints basketball team.

For the third time in four years and fourth since 2010, the Trojans are in the TAPPS final four.

“I think it’s a credit to the kids and the system we have in place; these guys buy into it,” said Eddie Francis, All Saints coach for the three most recent trips to state. “It’s a real credit to these kids that they are dedicated enough to go through all the things to hopefully have the success that we’ve had the last four years.”

All Saints (26-7) takes on Frisco Legacy Christian (20-18) in the TAPPS 5A state semifinals at 1 p.m. Thursday from Abilene Christian’s Moody Coliseum in Abilene.

The winner advances to the state championship against either San Antonio Cornerstone (17-12) or Houston Westbury Christian (17-19) at 3 p.m. Friday back at Moody Coliseum.

While the Trojans have recent history at the state tournament, the 2017 squad has little semblance to the teams that made the final four in 2014 and the title game in 2015.

Only Sean Phillips remains from those teams, the senior having played a role off the bench as a freshman and sophomore.

In the two most recent trips to state, All Saints had a team of players who had been together since grade school led by the coach’s son, Aston Francis, who went on to be named All-East Texas Player of the Year.

“This team hasn’t been playing together like their whole lives like that other team had been,” senior Sam deBoer said. “For us to come together so quickly at such a pivotal time, it really shows the character of everyone on the team that they’re able to come together so quickly and work toward a single goal.”

DeBoer is one of five seniors on the roster, all of whom play a part in the team’s success. Though only Phillips has experience playing on a team that went to state, many of the Trojans have experience playing against the teams that went to state.

“What I remember is getting beat up in practice every day by the Dream Team,” deBoer said. “It definitely made me a better player.”

The Trojans aren’t entirely reliant on one class of players as the 2014 and 2015 teams were. The next two leading scorers after Phillips (17.0 ppg) are sophomore Scottie Turner (9.0) and junior Lance Lee (6.7).

Lee, whose brother Luke was a key contributor to the 2014 and 2015 teams, leads the team with 5.3 rebounds per game.

All Saints finished tied with Bishop Gorman at 5-1 in TAPPS 3-5A but beat the Crusaders 58-50 in a seeding game to claim the top seed and a bye in the playoffs.

Gorman thus hosted Frisco Legacy in a first-round playoff game, only to be edged 42-39 by the Eagles.

The Trojans meanwhile began playing their best basketball at that time, finally healthy after an eventful January and early February where players were in and out of the lineup with injuries and illness.

In three district games All Saints had three starters out but still won.

“It was kind of rough,” said Phillips, who missed three games with a hip injury. “We had a lot of people out for injuries; sickness was a big problem for us.

“To come out 5-1 in regular district then win that determining game for first seed was big for us.”

As a coach, Francis had to plug in players at a number of different positions. He said it’s been fun to coach a team with the ability to overcome all kinds of adversity.

“Our rotation has been crazy this year,” Francis said. “We’ve had to play some guards at post and some posts at guard just to piecemeal it together.”

In the playoffs, All Saints pulled away from district rival Bullard Brook Hill 54-38 then jumped all over Austin St. Michael’s 65-46, leading by as many as 20 in the second quarter.

Now the Trojans face a Frisco Legacy team that finished third in TAPPS 2-5A behind Trinity Christian-Cedar Hill and Dallas Christian. The Eagles beat Austin St. Dominic Savio 64-52 in the area round and knocked off TC-CH 64-51 in the regional round.

The last time these two met, All Saints beat Frisco Legacy 71-44 in a district game last season.

“They’re incredibly quick,” Francis said of the Eagles. “They play a pressure-based system. They push the ball at you on offense, they pressure you on defense.”

Since fully regaining his health, Phillips has scored 17, 21 and 24 points, putting an exclamation mark on his return from injury with a slam dunk against St. Michael’s on Saturday.

As a freshman and sophomore, Phillips was a role player for the Trojans, someone who could stretch the floor with his vision and outside shooting. Now he’s the go-to player.

“Last year the transition from being a guy to being the guy sometimes didn’t go as smoothly as we would like,” Francis said. “About midyear this year it seems like it’s clicked for him. He understands the responsibility of not only taking the last shot, but wanting the last shot.”

Phillips, who grew up playing basketball and having sleepovers with Francis’ son, Aston, said he’s thankful for the coaching staff, including assistants Jeremy Tatum and Brian Jones.

“We’re lucky to have them; they’re putting in so many hours for us it’s crazy,” Phillips said. “That’s definitely a top reason why we keep winning and have such a successful program.”

As for Francis, he quoted Kid Rock’s 90’s ballad “Only God Knows Why” as the reason why the Trojans are back at state yet again.

“There’s an old Kid Rock song that says, ‘You get out what you put in and people get what they deserve,'” Francis said. “I think these people deserve the right to play in the state tournament because of the time they’ve spent in the gym.

“I’m extremely proud of these guys. They’ve done a really good job.”

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