SAN ANTONIO -- A perfect season is the most impressive single season accomplishment in all of sports.
The Plano East boys basketball program completed one at the Alamodome on Saturday night, defeating Round Rock Stony Point, 53-41, in the Class 6A state championship.
Plano East is the first school to reach perfection in Texas' largest classification since Duncanville (39-0) in the 2007 season.
What would Plano East head coach Matt Wester have done if you told him Plano East would complete a perfect season?
"I probably would've laughed," Wester said. "Going into the Final Four we had a 27-point margin of victory average. That's just silly, right?"
It took 16 years for anyone to match Duncanville, and Plano East arguably one-upped the school by winning 40 games.
Reaching perfection "means everything" to Plano East guard Narit Chotikavanic.
"We put in so much work and practiced so hard," Chotikavanic said. "It means the world to all these fans who came out here to support us. It means the world to us."
Wester said he knew the Panthers had a good chance to win state, but the way they did it – winning both tournament games by double figures and reaching perfection – spoke volumes.
"We have a lot of really, really good basketball players who know nothing but winning," Wester said. "Everything they do well translates to the next level."
Perfect seasons are somewhat common in high school sports, especially compared to the professional realm. Eight high school football teams completed one in 2023: Gordon, Benjamin, Timpson, Albany, Malakoff, Gunter, Aledo and DeSoto.
But high school basketball isn't high school football, where perfect teams win only 16 games. Basketball is an unpredictable and sporadic sport, where underdogs more commonly pull of upsets; there are 40 or so opportunities for championships teams to lose.
One off day. One player without the right mindset. One 50-50 ball that doesn't go your way. One game plan that simply doesn't work.
All of that can ruin everything.
In Stony Point's case, it was one team that had its number. The Tigers only losses this season came at the hands of Plano East.
The Panthers had already beaten Stony Point, and they proved it wasn't a fluke by doing it again on the grand stage.
Plano East played consistent, winning basketball 40 times, and high school sports fans across the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex should recognize its greatness.
Wester said the Panthers were able to stay consistent because they have the "utmost character."
He mentioned the team is deep, has a "long mindset" and loves spending time together. What does a "long mindset" entail?
Wester said Plano East's main focus wasn't necessarily winning games; it was improving consistently to play its best brand of basketball during the state championship.
"We're trying to get better today so that we can win in March," Wester said in reflection "We've said March 9 over 1,000 times a season."
Beaumont United basketball completed a Class 5A perfect season in 2020 while Houston Yates did the same in Class 4A in 2010, but Plano East's accomplishments are greater; the Panthers were flawless in Texas' largest, most competitive classification.
Plano East put together what is arguably the most impressive Texas high school sports season in the last decade.
Northeast Texas has had only one undefeated boys state championship basketball team and that was New Boston (33-0) back in 1984. This is the 40th anniversary of that Lion team that attained perfection under the guidance of coach Gary Schiffner.
Going undefeated wasn't easy against some tough opposition. Plano East won some hard-fought, close games.
The Panthers didn't blow out their opponents consistently, winning games against Flower Mound Marcus, Leander Rouse and Lewisville by four points or fewer.
Plano East is a team full of winners who find a way and proved that repeatedly.
High school basketball runners-up don't receive the luxury of a seven-game series, and champions don't necessarily prove their worth with multiple wins. Despite the perfect record, the Panthers had to win one more game, and that's just what they did.
Plano East star forward DJ Hall, who scored 18 points in an MVP performance, said it best after his team's state semifinal victory over Mansfield Lake Ridge.
"Winning the state championship, that's all that matters," Hall said. "Because all those other games won't matter if we don't win the last game."
Plano East's guard Rachard Angton said the team wanted to be 40-0, but was only focused on the state title. Everything else "fell into place."
Angton said the team played its heart out, and that the win was the greatest moment of his life.
So many simple mistakes could've ruined Angton and the Panthers' moment and disintegrated their championship legacy.
Plano East, despite the odds, managed to avoid all of it.
Rick Thomas contributed to this story.