Tiger Basketball falls to Travis Rebels in close game

It was time for a lesson as the Tigers hosted the Travis Rebels in a district game. The Tigers entered the gym with an air of nonchalance and would leave with a bit of humble pie on their plate. They were simply outplayed and out-hustled. The Rebels were the hungrier team on this night as they went home with a 56-47 win. This would put the Tigers in a tough spot in district play when it comes to having title aspirations because they fell two games behind LBJ and will now need help.

As in most close games, the critical phase of a game is free throw shooting. Travis held a huge edge hitting 21-30 to 4-8 for the Tigers. More important was the 12-18 in the fourth when the Tigers were having to foul to try and get back in the game. It did not take long to realize the Tigers were going to have a fight on their hands. A 3-point play by Eli Tod gave DS a 10-7 lead after one.

Travis knotted the score early and went ahead 12-10 before stalling out. DS kept chipping away and went to the break leading 20-16. The Tigers looked to be getting their mojo back as they eased out to their biggest lead of 24-16. Mojo changed sides and the Tigers just could not get it back. At the 2.48 mark Travis took the lead 29-28 and finished the quarter up 38-31. By mid-quarter the lead was stretched to 48-35. Free throw accuracy took away any chances for the Tigers, not to mention going 1-8 from three range and key turnovers.

A very important date is tomorrow night. The Tigers will take on LBJ. It should be a tremendous spectator game. Game time is 7:00pm. Be there. Fill up the gym.

Scoring for the Tigers were: Xavier Phillips 13, Jayden Guevara 7, Trace Young 6, Luke Lawyer 6, Tod 5, Tony Parra 3, Aiden Bailey 3, Felix Gonzales 2, Kasen Embrey 2.