Varsity basketball breeze through tourney
And the beat goes on. The Dripping Springs Tigers basketball team continues to win the close ones as they have carved out a 9-2 record prior to the holiday break. They went down to Gregory-Portland to try out that tourney. It was a huge success as they mostly breezed through their four opponents. This was something they had not been used to. Previously, most of their wins had been decided by three points or less. They chewed up the Marble Falls Mustangs 48-15 to open. SA Lanier would fall 61-47 and Samuel Clemens would put up the best fight before dropping the 64-61 decision. In the finals, the Tigers would match up with Clear Lake, normally a top program. DS decimated them 68-39 to bring the trophy home. Not only that but some of the Tigers brought home hardware as well. Aiden Bailey was named the tourney MVP, while Trace Young and Xavier Phillips earned a place on the all-tourney team.
Dripping Springs hosted the Taylor Ducks and found competition aplenty. The end result would be a 65-63 OT win. It was a game of alternating streaks. Taylor controlled the tip and broke for a layup to put them ahead with just two seconds transpiring. DS would respond with a 9-0 run and finish with a 14-9 lead after one.
Each team swapped baskets during the second period. Taylor would take its first lead (24-23) at the 3.16 mark and increased it to 30-25, mostly on free throws. DS fought back to hold a 31-30 margin at half. DS was smoking hot with a 10-0 start to the second half. At the midpoint DS held a commanding lead of 45-32. The Ducks would have none of it and closed the gap to 50-42 after three.
Taylor paddled their way back and took a 54-52 lead but could not expand on the lead, missing a critical free throw, and the Tigers would tie it up but would fail to control the ball for the last shot. In OT, the Tigers once again had a 7-0 run but Taylor would counter with a 5-0 run which would not be enough. The finish was an interesting one. Taylor had the ball 94 feet away and 2.2 seconds on the clock. The ball was thrown in, a couple of dribbles made and the Duck fired up a desperation shot from half court. A Tiger foolishly went for the block and the resultant play probably should have been called a foul, which would have given the player three free throws and the possibility of the win. The mind is always an unknown quantity to deal with.
The Tigers will enter the Westlake tourney during the holidays and then it will be on to district and the battle with LBJ for supremacy.
Vs Marble Falls: Jayden Guevara 17, Young 6, Felix Gonzales 5, Phillips 5, Bailey 4, Hayden Shields 3, Kasen Embrey 2, Luke Lawyer 1.
Vs Lanier: Bailey 14, Young 13, Phillips 8, Jackson Friedman 7, Charles Hunt 7, Guevara 6, Lawyer 4, Eli Tod 2.
Vs Clemens: Phillips 18, Guevara 14, Bailey 11, Young 7, Friedman 7, Hunt 4, Gonzales 1.
Vs Clear Creek: Bailey 25, Guevara 12, Young 11, Gonzales 7, Friedman 4, Phillips 3, Tony Parra 2, Tod 2, Lawyer 2.
Vs Taylor: Guevara 17, Young 14, Bailey 10, Phillips 7, Lawyer 6, Tod 5, Embrey 4, Parra 2.