Class 6A Division 2 Playoffs: Tyler Legacy advances past Wylie East

Published 12:10 am Wednesday, February 25, 2026

FORNEY — Tyler Legacy never trailed as it won a playoff game for the second straight year, taking a 64-53 victory over Wylie East in the bi-district round of the Class 6A Division 2 boys basketball playoffs on Tuesday night at North Forney High School.

It was the second consecutive year with a playoff victory for the Red Raiders, who previously hadn’t advanced in the postseason since 2007.

The game was tied at 5-5 and 10-10 in the first quarter and then Legacy ended the quarter on a 6-0 run and led the remainder of the game.

A 3-pointer by Brice Foster just before the buzzer sent the Red Raiders into halftime with a 35-27 lead.

Wylie East opened the second half with a layup by Mikiyas Abiy. And then came back-to-back threes from Foster to stretch the score to 41-29. Wylie East ended the third quarter on an 8-2 spurt to cut the score to 47-40 after three quarters.

The run extended to 12-2 as Wylie East got buckets from Praise Olufemi and Preston Samuels to begin the fourth quarter, cutting the score to 47-44. Zyere Ceasar and Derein Hollman knocked down consecutive triples and then Hollman converted a layup o make the score 55-44. Following a make by Olufemi, Foster hit another trey to get the lead back to double figures, and the Red Raiders hung on from there.

“It felt great,” Foster said. “There were about five minutes left in the game and it was a four-point game there, and those threes took it back up.”

Foster was 4-for-4 from downtown in the contest.

Legacy was 8 of 12 from 3-point range as a team.

Ceasar finished with 21 points and six rebounds. Hollman, who was in his first playoff game at Legacy after playing for Hawkins in the postseason as a freshman, had 13 points and 12 boards.

“We just had to keep our head in the game, stay locked in and ready,” Hollman said.

Foster had 12 points. Bryson Sanders scored 9 points. KJ Cyres had 8 points, six rebounds and nine assists, and Cason Gray Jr. added 1 point.

Despite Wylie East having players standing 6-6, 6-8 and 6-10, Legacy owned the rebounding advantage 29-20.

“It was nice to see us start fast,” Tyler Legacy head boys basketball coach Kyle Smith said. “They didn’t seem to have too much nerves early, which was good to see. You just don’t know how they’re going to respond late. We got rattled there for a little bit and just kind of started throwing the ball all over the place. That’s a sign of our lack of experience. But we were able to settle down. We had some big-time guys make some big-time plays down the stretch. I’m really proud of this group.”

Abiy led Wylie East (16-13) with 20 points. Olufemi scored 15 points, and Samuels added 10.

Legacy (23-11) will face Mesquite Horn in the area round for the second consecutive year. Horn, which defeated Legacy 47-42 in the 2025 playoffs on the way to reaching the regional finals, was a previous district foe of the Red Raiders and will rejoin Legacy’s district the next two seasons.