The Brownwood Lions completed play in the TexasBank Holiday Classic with a 1-2 record as a member of the Boys Gold Division, falling to Class 6A Garland Lakeview Centennial by a 64-38 count in Wednesday’s finale at Warren Gym.
The Lions (10-9) struggled to keep pace with Lakeview Centennial (13-7) as Brownwood found itself down 23-4 after one quarter, 37-13 at halftime, and 59-17 through three periods.
“I told them before the game we have to come out and we really have to match their energy or they’re going to hit us quick and it’s going to be a long game,” said Lions first-year head coach Jorden Young. “I thought we did that early on, we came out and played with a lot of intensity, we just couldn’t put the ball in the hole. They’re really big, long and athletic, and that’s not what we’re used to seeing, so that was a big adjustment. But the fourth quarter we were more comfortable, we got better shots, we were OK attacking the rim, and we did a lot of good things later on.”
The Lions received 11 points from Cannon Calvert, eight apiece from Durham Brown and Elias Perez, four from Jordan Gilbert, three each from Judson Coalson and Aaron Clevenger, and one point from Carson Noe.
Lakeview Centennial was fueled by 11 points from Montarvo Robinson, 10 from Charles Sanders, and nine points from George Zigler, as all 13 members of the team scored.
As for the strong finish displayed by the Lions, Young said, “Going into the fourth quarter I told them the score was 0-0 and I wanted us to go win the fourth quarter and they did that by a significant amount. I know it was their bench players and not their starters, but when you’re talking about playing a 6A school the athletes roll in. That was a real big positive for us to get a solid fourth quarter in going against Gatesville on Friday.”
After Friday’s 3:30 p.m. home contest against Gatesville, the Lions will visit Waco High on Friday, Jan. 9 before tipping off District 6-4A action at home versus Stephenville Friday, Jan. 16.
“This tournament we had a lot of growth,” Young said. “We saw a lot of different styles of ball that are going to be similar to how we play in district. We play different styles of ball depending on the teams, and it’s going to be very similar when we get to district so this tournament has been great for us. We were able to get some different lineups in as well so we feel comfortable playing against different systems, so I feel like we’ll be ready to go in a couple of weeks when we hit Stephenville at home.”
