The Brownwood Lions started the fourth period with seven consecutive points to grab a 53-52 advantage with 5:48 remaining, but the Stephenville Yellow Jackets closed the contest with 21 of the final 30 points to snatch a 73-62 District 6-4A victory at Warren Gym Tuesday night.
“Our guys played really hard, we did a lot of good things and battled back really well, but Stephenville did a good job of adjusting to how the game was being called, really physical, and we’ve got to be the most physical team out there,” said Lions head coach Will Parker. “That’s the difference in the game right there.”
The loss was the 10th in a row for the Lions (13-16, 0-6), who were looking for their first league victory to start the second half of 6-4A action. Stephenville (21-7, 4-2) completed the district sweep, having captured the first meeting, 62-35, on Jan. 10.
Trailing 52-46 at the start of the fourth quarter, a driving bucket from Ross Strasner, a three-pointer by Bennett Windham and a putback from Durham Brown pushed the Lions in front by a point at the 6:47 mark of the fourth quarter.
Knotted at 55 with 5:29 left following a tying bucket by Casey Friebel, the Lions mustered just two points over the next 3:04 as Stephenville managed to build a double-digit advantage, 67-57, with 2:25 remaining.
“Good things were happening, we were attacking the basket, and you can’t fault guys for taking shots that are out there, they’re just trying to make plays,” Parker said. “In the offense we’re running, we try to give guys green lights. We’re an aggressive team and we try and get down hill, but hats off to Stephenville for frustrating us before we got across half court and getting us out of rhythm.”
Brownwood led 13-6 early but fell victim to a 16-1 run and trailed 22-14 with 4:53 left before halftime. The Lions then answered with a 12-2 surge of their own to reclaim a 26-24 lead with 2:58 until the break. But the Yellow Jackets fired back with 13 of the final 19 points in the first half and built a 37-32 edge at halftime.
Friebel led the way with a game-high 27 points for Brownwood trailed by Strasner with 12, Elias Perez with nine, Weston Wolf with seven, Brown with five and Windham with three points.
Stephenville received 21 points from Raidan Moody and 12 apiece from Austin Hardin and Dillinger Thiebaud.
The Lions will again attempt to secure their first league victory at Graham (13-14, 2-4) at 7:15 p.m. Friday.
