LA PORTE — Five more to go.

That’s how far Memorial is from its first state championship and Port Arthur’s first in 23 years, now that the fourth-ranked Titans have dispatched 15^th-ranked Alvin Shadow Creek 64-57 from the 5A boys basketball area round.

Memorial will take on No. 18 Humble, which beat No. 19 Texas City 65-53 on Friday, in the 5A Region III quarterfinal round at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the new Delmar Fieldhouse, 2020 Mangum Rd. in Houston.

Humble narrowly survived Tuesday’s bi-district game against Nederland, 45-44.

Thailan Wesley had 25 points Friday, Darion Chatman scored eight of his 12 points in the fourth quarter (making all eight at the free-throw line), and Jamyus Jones added 10 for the Titans (29-5), who have won 21 straight. Shadow Creek (23-7), a second-year high school located in Pearland but in the Alvin ISD, got 21 points from Akin Newton (10 in the first quarter) and 11 from Elijah Elliott.

The Titans led 59-51 with 1:29 to go after a Thailan Wesley layup, but the Sharks put the game in doubt pretty fast thanks to Tyron Henry. The junior guard scored six points in 13 seconds, making a three-pointer and, after the Titans were whistled for traveling, hitting three foul shots, pulling the Sharks within two points with 1:01 remaining.

That’s as close as they came.

“They’re a good team, but we knew whoever would execute the most would win the game,” Chatman said. “… Luckily we made our free throws in the end. [Shadow Creek] missed about three at the end of the game, so I’m glad we came away with the win.”

Shadow Creek made 16 of 20 free throws for the game, missing three in the final period. Memorial went 23 for 25, with Chatman making 8 of 9 and Wesley 10 of 11.

Chatman made 1 of 2 with 53.9 seconds left, but Shadow Creek missed a tying three-pointer and Wesley was sent to the line, making two with 36.9 to go. Shadow Creek missed two more shots from the floor, and Chatman hit two at the line with 17.1 seconds to go to seal the deal.

Neither team pulled ahead by more than six points until the Titans’ 7-0 fourth-quarter rally in which Chatman, a well-known slasher to the basket, made 7 of 8 free throws, his only attempts of the game. Memorial scored six unanswered late in the third to knot the game at 41, Chatman’s tying layup off a steal coming with 9 seconds left in the frame.

Jyson Butler extended the run to 9-0 with a three-point play after an attack to the basket. Shadow Creek last led 49-48 with 4:01 remaining.

The first half saw 10 lead changes and three times. Memorial led 19-16 after one quarter and 32-31 at intermission, as sophomore center Nate Clover helped to give a tall Shadow Creek lineup fits inside.

“It was pretty physical,” said Clover, who finished with eight points. “They were a tough team.”

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I.C. Murrell: 721-2435. Twitter: @ICMurrellPANews