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Two Bulldogs reached the 20-point mark to send Nederland to the second round of the 5A playoffs.

Big performances by Tripp Parker and C.J. Guidry on Tuesday led to a 53-47 victory over Manvel. Nederland advances to the area round, where they will play Angleton. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. Friday (Feb. 25) against Angleton at Huffman High School.

Guidry and Parker have been instrumental in the Bulldogs’ success this season.

“It feels great to make it to the second round especially, in recent history, Nederland has struggled in the playoffs,” Parker said.

The post player said the team benefitted from having to play with and against now-graduated Tyler Jackson last season.

Nederland Head Coach Brian English said Guidry and Parker played well individually and as a team.

“They play really well together sharing the basketball under the basket,” English said. “It gives us a huge advantage. You don’t get 20 a piece from them every night, but it helped us get that first playoff win.”

English said Nederland is able to take advantage of a game that has moved away from the rim as more young players become enamored with shooting from distance.

“A lot of people don’t see (players like them) in practice,” he said. “They are not used to seeing it in games. There are more 3-point shots taken in practice. I think it gives us a huge advantage.”

Nederland’s defense has put pressure on opposing teams. The Bulldogs have held five out of their last six opponents to less than 50 points.

Angleton is coming off a 88-69 win over Houston Madison.

Parker said the Bulldogs are going to have to trust the game plan if Nederland wants to advance to the regional round.

“Mainly, we just need to play hard,” he said. “We all have our minds set on winning and know we can go far.”

English said the game plan will likely consist of controlling the tempo and giving maximum effort.

“They are together like we are,” English said of Angleton. “They play well together and they play hard and smart. They are not real, real big, but in high school basketball, you don’t have to be big. It is going to be an interesting matchup and a little different than the other night. I think our kids are going to be ready. We are going to have to limit our turnovers and win the rebounding battle like we have been doing all year.”