BALLINGER, TX-- The no. 12-ranked Wall Hawks rode a barrage of three pointers from Baylor Halfmann to a 46-25 win over rival Ballinger on Tuesday to stay unblemished in District 4-3A.
Wall jumped out to a 12-7 lead over the Bearcats in the first quarter thanks to a pair of threes from Halfmann. He would not put up any more points in the first half.
The two teams settled into a defensive rhythm in the second quarter by combining for 11 points as Wall extended their lead to 20-10 at halftime.
Out of the break, Ballinger was able to cut into Wall's lead, but not by much as Wall still led 28-20 after the third. Then the Hawks got red-hot to close out the game.
Halfman hit another pair of threes and Colton Chitsey posted six points as the Hawks outscored Ballinger 18-5 to close out the game.
Chitsey finished as the game-high scorer with 16 points. Halfmann had 15 points, all from three pointers.
Kenyan Gonzales and Jon Delgado finished with six points to lead the Bearcats. The duo each had a pair of three pointers.
Wall (20-3, 4-0) will enjoy an off day Friday before traveling to Reagan County on Jan. 15.
Ballinger (13-10, 2-1) looks to bounce back this Friday with an away game at Reagan County.
Bobcats' Comeback Too Little Too Late Against Fort Worth Richland
The Central Bobcats' late push wasn't enough in a 63-54 loss to Fort Worth Richland on Tuesday.
To start the game, the Rebels went on a 15-3 run behind a ton of three pointers. The starting group couldn’t manage to get a bucket, but the bench for the Bobcats came in and reduced the deficit. The score at the end of the first was 19-7.
Central started to get things rolling offensively after Owen Huff made eight straight points, and two of them were from deep. They even cut the lead to three points at one point.
At the end of the first half the Rebels were up 39-33.
The third quarter was close the whole way, but Central couldn’t ever grab the lead. At the end of the quarter the score was 47-45. Mike Bonner had 6 of Central's 12 points in the quarter.
The first play in the fourth quarter the Bobcats finally led the ball gabe after a big three by Huff. After that bucket Richland went on a 15-0 run. Central hit two last minute three pointers but after the free throw bonus’s they couldn’t complete the comeback.
Huff finished with 16 points.
Central (13-9, 2-2) will hope to bounce back against Hurst Bell on Friday.
TLCA Routs Grape Creek to Keep Pace Atop District 4-3A
The TLCA Eagles handed the Grape Creek Eagles a 77-34 rout in District 4-3A. The win keeps TLCA's unblemished record in district play and extends their win streak to five games.
Both teams held pace with the other in first quarter, coming out deadlocked at 11. TLCA pulled in front 34-25 after the second quarter behind a 23-point outburst. That was as close as Grape Creek would get from there on out.
TLCA held Grape Creek to just two points in the third quarter to extend their lead to 53-27 after the third quarter. Kaiden Kirkland had five points for TLCA while Carson Clark and Tyler Pilkinton each had three pointers to help TLCA's cause.
But TLCA wasn't done. In the fourth quarter, behind nine points from Jevon Everitt, TLCA outscored Grape Creek 24-5 to finish the game.
Everitt was the game-high scorer with 21 points. Harrison Ragan was close to Everitt with 16 points.
Hagan De La Garza and Juan Trujillo led the way for Grape Creek with seven points each.
TLCA (15-3, 3-0) remains a half-game back of Wall in the district standings. They will have a chance to make up that ground against Brady this Friday.
Grape Creek (3-14, 0-4) travels to Sonora this Friday still searching for their first district win.
Daniels' 27 Not Enough for Lake View in Non-District Finale With Midland Lee
The Lake View Chiefs scored 46 second half points, but it wasn't enough to overcome a slow defensive start in an 85-69 loss to Midland Lee on Tuesday.
Lake View fell behind the proverbial eight ball in the first quarter by allowing Midland Lee a 35-12 advantage going into the second quarter. The Chiefs found a slight rhythm in the second quarter by holding the Rebels to 19 points, but Midland Lee extended their lead to 56-23 at the half.
Courtney Bliskey's team then had a fire lit underneath them in the third quarter. The Chiefs got scorching hot and posted 29 points behind Ahmad Daniels' 14 points in the quarter. Yet, the Rebels still held a 75-52 advantage entering the fourth quarter after scoring another 19 points.
Lake View carried that rhythm to the fourth quarter for 17 points and outscored Midland Lee once again. However, it wasn't enough with the Rebels tallying 10 points to keep the Chiefs at bay.
Daniels finished as the game-high scorer with 27 points and three three pointers. Dylan Hart was the only other Chief in double figures with 14 points.
Lake View (10-13) next opens district play by welcoming Midland Greenwood to the Ben Norton Gym on Friday.
Robert Lee Explodes in the Fourth Quarter to Down Sterling City
The Robert Lee Steers used an explosive fourth quarter to pull away from Sterling City 46-39 at home in a District 11-1A matchup Tuesday night.
The Steers jumped out to an early lead with them scoring twice as many points as the Eagles. Free throws were a big contributor to the first with Robert Lee hitting double the amount that Sterling city did. At the end of the first quarter the score was 12-6.
The second quarter was played for a more even matchup. Sterling outscored the Eagles 9-8 behind Cross Knittel's five points. The Steers still held the lead at halftime with the score of 20-15.
Sterling City tried the whole game to recover from the first quarter deficit, and they almost did it by once again outscoring the Steers in the third 14-10. Michael Mcguire had six points in the quarter.
Jayton Warren decided to get hot at the right time for the Steers. He scored six fourth quarter points to extend the Steers' lead too far for the Eagles to catch up.
Skipworth had a game-high 13 points and Warren had 11 points.
Knittel had 11 points for the Eagles.
Robert Lee (4-0) will try to continue their undefeated district record as they play Irion County on Friday.
Sterling City (1-2) will host Bronte on Friday.
Veribest Crushes Watervalley Behind Herrera's 25 Points
The Watervalley Wildcats traveled to Veribest for a game that was never close. The Veribest Falcons won the contest 63-29.
The Falcons started the game fast and never looked back. They played excellent defense by only allowing two baskets the whole quarter. At the end of the first the score was 20-7.
Watervalley continued to struggle offensively and only managed to score three points in the second quarter. Herrera had nine points in the quarter to bring the lead at half time 36-10.
The third quarter was much of the same as the first half, but Conner Glass had all four of their points. Herrera started to cool down after his 15 point first half, but still hit two threes. Veribest increased their lead to 49-14.
The fourth quarter was the most entertaining portion of the game with Watervalley actually taking the quarter with Hunter Davis scoring eight points. The late scoring couldn't get them out of the hole they dug early.
This story will be updated
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