Had it not been for allowing 16 of the game’s first 18 points to District 6-4A fron-runner Glen Rose, the Brownwood Lions might be celebrating a two-game win streak at the moment.
However, the slow start proved too great to overcome as the Lions dropped a 62-50 decision to the visiting Tigers Friday night at Warren Gym, concluding the first half of District 6-4A boys basketball action.
“If we’ll play like this we’ll give ourselves a chance,” said Lions head coach Jorden Young. “If we’re competing on the defensive end and attacking and on the offensive end, we’ll give ourselves a chance. The margin was 12 points but it was a closer game than that as far as intensity and the level we were competing at. If we continue to do that, we’re going to see improvement fast.”
Down 25-9 after the end of the first quarter, the Lions (11-15, 1-4) closed the gap to 38-28 at halftime and trailed 55-42 heading to the fourth period. There, Brownwood crept within nine points on a couple of occasions, but could get no closer.
“They played really hard and with an intensity that we haven’t shown consistently,” Young said. “There’s been glimpses of it but I thought for the first time for four quarters we really put it together and played a pretty full game.”
Regarding the slow start, Young said. “We were in zone and they were banging threes so it was good for us to run some man. They’re a good shooting team and I just told them we have to contest the threes and rebound. We struggled in the first quarter with them getting third and fourth opportunities and it’s hard to beat someone any time you give them two or three chances to knock it down. From the second quarter on we did a better job rebounding and limiting them to one possession, and then we were getting shots on the other end as well.”
The Lions were sparked by Elias Perez’s 14 points, 11 from Cannon Calvert, eight from Carson Noe, six apiece from Durham Brown and Judson Coalson, three from Grant Gray and two points from Riggs Gray.
For Glen Rose (20-8, 4-0), Dawson Miller poured in 19 points and Gabe Cuellar contributed 14 points.
Brownwood begins the second half of the District 6-4A slate at Stephenville (25-3, 3-2) at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday.
