Tiger Basketball looks forward to playoffs
The regular season has wound down for the Tigers basketball team and they are looking forward to the playoffs. They were able to split with Reagan and Travis and played Crockett last Tuesday night. It does not appear the Tigers will do any better than third. There is still some suspense left in District 26-5A but appears second place will go to old district nemesis, Boerne Champion. Will need to check with school website for the details.
It was a big matchup in District 25-5A. The Tigers were up against the Reagan Raiders. Both shared the number two slot with 8-3 records. It was obvious from the beginning the Raiders had athletes and would be a tough opponent. They had earlier posted a 60-41 loss on the Tigers. What was also obvious the Tigers would have a hard time trying to play Reagan's game of pushing the ball up the court and going hard for the basket. Tough to rebound against as well. As in most games between good opponents, free throws usually determines the outcome. Reagan took control early and then played on even terms to come away with the 58-48 win.
Early on Xavier Phillips dropped in a basket to give the Tigers their only lead of the night. Reagan went on a 7-0 run with Trace Young hitting a three to get back to two. It was silent night at the game where the Tiger fans were to stay quiet until the eighth point was scored and a big cheer could go up. At the 3.09 mark Ben Bondurant hit the basket that made it 8-12. Seconds later Alema Louis had a followup to get to 10-12. Reagan got hot and went on a 12-0 run, including a buzzer beater downtown three to make it 24-10 after one.
Even though the Tigers would appear to be making some runs, they could not get any closer than ten for most of the game and trailed by as much as 16. It was 31-19 at the break. The game was played on equal terms in the third as the quarter ended 43-31.
With the speed of the game and bodies flying around, fouls began to pile up for both sides in the fourth. Whatever chance the Tigers had were taken away at the line. Reagan would hit 9-12 at the line while the Tigers only hit 1-5 and 7 of 19 on the night.
A spunky 7-player Travis squad came to DS gym trying to spoil senior/parents night but could not stay with the deeper Tigers. Thanks to an 11-point outburst early in the stanza by Trace Young the Tigers carved out a 16-4 margin after four minutes. Travis fought back to make it 20-16 after one. After tying it up at 20 early in the second, the night was pretty much over for Travis. At the break it was 42-27.
The second half was mostly a three-alert by both teams with the Tigers putting up 20 but only making four. It was 62-38 after three. As the reserves played in the fourth, the only shot they wanted was beyond the arc. Accuracy was not a priority as only 1 of 12 connected. Final 70-53.
Vs McCallum (62-51): Phillips 13, Louis 12, Enzo Arnold 11, Bondurant 9, Tyler Smith 7, Kyle Rioux 4, Connor Parks
3. Nick Statz 2.
Vs Reagan: Young 13, Statz 7, Louis 6, Arnold 6, Rioux 5, Phillips 4, Bondurant 4, Parks
3.
Vs Travis: Young 16, Phillips 14, Parks 10, Arnold 7, Bondurant 7, Colin DeWitt 5, Price Siemering 4, Smith 3, West Weichert 2, Statz 2.