DUNCANVILLE – Frisco has depended on defense to carry it through the early rounds of the Sandra Meadows Classic, and that was evident once again as it downed Coppell, 49-30, in the quarterfinal round Friday.

Defense is something coach Bob Rose expected from his team after following the Christmas break.

Blog: High schools

 Friday's tournament action

Boys basketball tournaments

DISD: Skyline reaches final

Whataburger: Dunbar falls short

Wildcat Classic: Arl. Bowie wins

Sunset stranded, forfeits

Fri. results | Sat. schedule

Girls basketball tournaments

DISD: DeSoto in final

Sandra Meadows: Defense propels Frisco

Mansfield Rotary: Timberview, Liberty Chr. advance

Fri. results | Sat. schedule

"In the tournament, offensively, we've struggled because we haven't been in the gym to walk through the stuff that we have to remember to do all of the time," said Rose, whose team is No. 2 in the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches' Class 4A state poll.

"Our spacing gets off, and then everything starts to get off from there."

Now headed for a showdown with Duncanville, the state's fifth-ranked 5A team, at 10:30 a.m. today in the semifinals, Frisco (22-2) knows it can't afford to have such lapses. After all, Duncanville has built a reputation for excellence based on coach Cathy Self-Morgan's man-to-man defensive strategy.

"I love watching them play defense," Rose said. "They do a real good job of being aggressive and being in help side. They do all of the things that man-defensive teams want to teach.

"They're going to get up on you, make you play and try to get up in your face."

Against Coppell, which played without injured guard and Houston signee Roxana Button, Frisco missed enough high-percentage shots to make Rose turn blue.

The score was tied 10-10 after the first quarter, but Frisco recovered and went up by 13 heading into the fourth quarter.

"Our kids played through it and played hard and never let it bother them," Rose said.

Frisco senior post Kierra Mallard, a Texas Tech signee, topped all scorers with 14 points.

Duncanville rolls: Duncanville (20-1) owned a substantial height advantage over Euless Trinity (17-4), as the teams met in the quarterfinal round.

But that was just a small part of why Duncanville thumped Trinity, 51-18.

What emerged as the key factor, senior forward Teranie Thomas said, was Duncanville's chemistry.

"We play as a team," he Western Kentucky signee, who scored eight points. "That's how we beat everybody."

Looking ahead to the matchup with Frisco today, Thomas said depth will work in Duncanville's favor.

"Everybody is capable of stepping up at any time," she added.

Horn recovers: Mesquite Horn (13-7) was walloped Thursday by Houston Bellaire (the state's No. 2 5A team) but bounced back with two victories Friday and heads into today's consolation semifinal matchup with Duncanville's JV playing inspired basketball.

After Horn downed Frisco Liberty, 64-34, on Friday morning, coach Christina Bradford used the break between games to take the team to a nursery.

The purpose of the visit was to show that, like plants, teams grow in stages and require nutrition to make that happen.

"We looked at the plants, and we just made an analogy of what we need to do," Bradford said.

Horn came out against Flower Mound confident and held on for a 51-46 victory. Senior forward Kendra Smith, who had 18 points against Liberty, scored 17 against Flower Mound.

Sophomore point guard Kenya Price didn't commit a turnover, and sophomore forward Kelsey Baker made seven of eight free throws in the fourth quarter.

"I really think they got it. Let's just hope it lasts," Bradford said.

Briefly: Bishop Lynch coach Andy Zihlman posted his 699th career victory in his team's 49-47 win over Plano West.