GARLAND, Texas -- Missing free throws late in Dallas Kimball's playoff loss to Lancaster in the region finals last season has haunted Jarion Henry for a full year.

Against Dallas Lincoln on Saturday, he redeemed himself.

"I had a good sleep and a good breakfast," Henry said. "I came out and felt good. I had to buckle down to get it done. My auntie made French toast."

Henry contributed heavily to a collective defensive effort that shut down Lincoln and superstar LeBryan Nash to lead Kimball to a 51-42 win at the Garland ISD Special Events Center in the Class 4A Region II final.

The win puts Kimball in the state tournament for the second time in three years.

"Today, we were just trying not to let LB [Nash] get them out of here," Johnson said. "We knew we could muster up points, but our thing is if we were going to beat this team today we were going to do it defensively. Bottom line."

Kimball (36-2) rotated defenders on Nash throughout the game in an attempt to confuse him, and the Knights found the right combination (Jordan Williams and Henry) to slow him down in the second quarter.

Lincoln (32-4) scored just five points in the second quarter and didn't tally its first points of the third until Nash hit two free throws with 1:25 left in the frame. Nash, who finished with 20 points, didn't reach double-digits in scoring until the fourth quarter.

Keaton Miles, Lincoln's second-leading scorer, was forced to watch most of the first half from the bench because of foul trouble and finished with only six points.

"We all hit the defensive boards," Henry said. "That's what wins games."

While Lincoln struggled to find points, Kimball used a balanced offensive effort in its run-and-gun offense to build a lead. After trailing most of the first quarter, Kimball's Oscar Lewis gave his team a 20-19 lead with a pair of free throws and the Knights held a 27-21 advantage at halftime.

"I told them 'Don't worry what the score is, I want the game to be as frantic as possible,' " Johnson said. "We're used to running a little bit more. They're used to setting up in the half court. I felt like we had more guys in the open floor to create plays."

It only got better in third quarter for Kimball as Lincoln mustered just four points, giving the Tigers a combined nine points in the middle two quarters.

But Nash came alive in the fourth. He scored 10 straight points for Lincoln midway through the frame, and a free throw with a minute left in the game cut Kimball's lead to 44-40.

Austin Franklin, who started on Kimball's 2009 team that lost to Houston Yates in the state finals, helped seal the win with six points in the final minute. He led the Knights in scoring with 13.

Henry's fiery performance personified Kimball's gritty team effort. In addition to his work against Nash, he scored six points and collected seven rebounds. He picked up a technical foul in the fourth and eventually fouled out.