Combine the district records of Port Arthur Memorial and Humble, and neither suffered a blemish through 32 games.

The overall success of the fourth-ranked Titans and 18th-ranked Wildcats, however, couldn’t prevent them from getting some tough tests in the UIL 5A boys basketball playoffs. But it has drawn them together for Tuesday’s 5A Region III quarterfinal at the new Delmar Fieldhouse, 2020 Mangum Rd. in Houston.

That’s the site for the regional semifinals and finals, to be contested next Friday and Saturday.

“You have to play to all zeros on the clock, and our guys did,” Memorial coach Kenneth Coleman said, after the Titans had to expand a two-point lead in the final 61 seconds to win 64-57. “They’re a group that showed some resilience, and they showed it again.”

Memorial (29-5, 14-0 in 22-5A), which has won 21 straight, won by single digits just twice in district play, by nine points at Beaumont Central and by eight at home against Ozen. The Titans slowly gained separation on Barbers Hill this past Tuesday in Channelview, taking their first double-digit lead with 5:58 left in the game, en route to a 73-54 decision.

No. 15 Alvin Shadow Creek clawed to within 59-57 of Memorial on Friday in La Porte after Tyron Henry scored six points in 13 seconds. The eight-point deficit was the Sharks’ largest of the game, as the game was tied at 41 through three periods.

“Early in the third quarter, when they took the lead, they knocked us in the mouth,” Coleman said. “We always came back.”

The Titans scored six unanswered in the final 69 seconds of the third to even the game, coming up with two key stops that led to four points.

“We started missing a lot of shots,” Titans senior guard Darion Chatman said. “Our third quarter is usually our worst quarter, but we did better at the end of the third, stepped it up in the fourth and made our free throws.”

Humble (30-8, 18-0 in 21-5A) was one short-range basket by Nederland away from not even getting to the area round, but the Wildcats — who’ve won 15 straight — proved a little more dominant against Texas City in a 65-53 win Friday in Pasadena. A 19-8 third quarter gave the Wildcats command after a 26-all tie.

Memorial and Humble will tip off at 7:30 p.m., following the 5:30 p.m. Cypress Falls vs. Houston Sam Houston game in 6A at Delmar. The survivor will take on Pflugerville Connally-Whitehouse winner at 7 p.m. Friday.

In the other 5A Region III quarterfinals, Waco will take on Bryan and Houston Madison will face Fort Bend Elkins, with the two winners playing at 5 p.m. Friday.

If the Titans prevail again, they’ll have their furthest playoff run in the program’s 16-year history, something Coleman envisioned when the Lincoln graduate took the job.

To him, it’s all a matter of being resilient in the playoffs.

“I’ve been with this group 2 ½ years, and so I knew it was good group when I came,” he said. “They’re special, and they stepped up to the moment.”

•

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