A game the Brownwood Lions led most of the way slipped through their fingertips in the fourth period, as a 5:57 scoreless drought to end the contest allowed the Graham Steers to score the final 16 points and rally for a 60-53 District 6-4A victory Friday night at Warren Gym.
The Lions (11-17, 1-6) were in front of Graham (18-13, 3-4) by a 17-13 count after one quarter, 29-25 at halftime, and 44-39 heading to the fourth period. There, Brownwood pushed the advantage to 53-44 on a Cannon Calvert jumper 2:03 into the quarter, but never scored again.
“We competed and did a pretty good job of sticking to what we wanted to do offensively and defensively, but there at the end of the game we couldn’t close it out,” said Lions first-year head coach Jorden Young. “We talked about not turning the ball over, we talked about securing rebounds and keeping them out of the paint at the end of the game. In the fourth quarter we started turning it over and letting them get in the paint and then we weren’t converting on the other end.”
A victory could have opened the door for the Lions to battle for the fourth and final playoff seed from District 6-4A, but now Brownwood will need at least one substantial upset over league co-leaders Brock (21-9, 6-1) Tuesday night and No. 24 Glen Rose (22-9, 6-1) Friday night to keep its postseason hopes alive.
Durham Brown scored a game-high 20 points for the Lions, trailed by 16 points from Calvert, 13 from Elias Perez, three from Judson Coalson and one point from Carson Now.
For Graham, Bryce Martin poured in 16 points, followed by 15 from Thomason Burkett and 11 from Brodie Martin.
Though the Lions have three contests left, Friday night also served as Senior Night as Brown, Noe, Coalson, Grant Gray and Hayden Brumbelow were recognized.
“The group of seniors we have, you couldn’t ask for a better group and I know that sounds like a cliché, but those are great kids that I would let babysit my kids and have no worries,” Young said. “When you have seniors that are leaders like that on your team it’s really special. I’ve really enjoyed coaching them even though I only had them one year. They’re coachable, they listen, they want to do better, they want to improve and the great thing is some have been out of basketball and came back and they’re having fun and that’s a blessing.”
