AREA BOYS HOOPS: TLCA Flying High After Win Over Ballinger

SAN ANGELO, TX-- The TLCA Eagles hosted the Ballinger Bearcats in a tough district game where the Eagles ended up pulling it out late 42-38.

The first quarter started out strong for the Bearcats as they jumped out to an early with good defense only allowing the high powered Eagles offense to score five points. The score at the end of the first was 12-5.

TLCA's Isaac Gonzales had 10 points in the second quarter to help his team come back to life. Defense was also a big key for the comeback as they gave Ballinger a little piece of their own medicine by only letting them score five points.

"We were real pesky on defense, played a lot of man, got a lot of loose balls, then we jumped into the zone to throw them off a little bit," said head coach Kent Sherill. "We made them shoot more outside because they were getting good looks inside. Also our press caused a lot of turnover, so that's good too."

TLCA grabbed the lead at half time 21-18.

The second half started off with once again Gonzales putting on a show. He scored eight points in the quarter and came up with numbous steal to bring their lead 32-27.

The end of the game was a show with more than three lead changes.

"I told the guys to keep pushing. The game's not over till there is zeros on the clock, so we got to fight till the very end," Sherrill said.

Jevon Everitt had a big fourth quarter coming up with huge plays on both sides of the court, while staying poised as the pressure was on during the end of the game. Ballinger also struggled to hit free throws late in the game going 3-for-9 in the fourth quarter. A lot of those would have either tied the game, or taken the lead. 

Ballinger's Free throw struggles came back to bite them as TLCA won 42-38.

TLCA (17-3, 5-0) will put their unbeaten record on the line with an away game against district favorite and 13th-ranked Wall this Friday.

Ballinger (14-11, 3-2) will look to rebound at home this Friday against Sonora.

Eldorado Edges Miles in 7-2A Slugfest

The Eldorado Eagles claimed a narrow 63-62 win over Miles in a game that featured 46 total fouls between the two teams.

The game also featured three players with 20 or more points.

Miles jumped out to a 6-0 lead early before Eldorado came storming back behind David Barajas' six points in the first quarter and entered the third quarter tied at 13.

Eldorado then exploded for 24 points in the second quarter behind 10 points from Korbin Covarrubiaz and held what seemed to be a commanding 37-24 lead at the half.

Christoval then put up 24 of their own behind 12 points from Kuail Kraatz and eight from Davian Martinez to take a narrow 48-46 lead to the fourth quarter.

Eldorado's Aidan Dennis found another gear to put up 10 of Eldorado's 17 points in the fourth quarter to complete the late comeback.

Dennis finished as the team-high scorer for Eldorado with 23 points.

Kraatz finished with the game-high mark of 25 points. Martinez was right behind him with 24.

Eldorado moves to 2-0 in district play heading into their showdown with rival Christoval this Friday.

Miles falls to 0-2 as they prepare for a road trip to Ozona this Friday.

Junction Uses Third Quarter Defense to Down Mason

The Junction Eagles held the Mason Punchers to just three points in the third quarter, which helped lift the Eagles to a 32-28 district win on Tuesday.

Mason took an early but narrow lead at 8-6 after the first quarter. Then Junction outscored the Punchers 8-5 to take a 14-13 lead at the half.

Then, the Eagles strangled the Puncher offense and extended their lead to 24-16 going into the fourth quarter.

Mason made a comeback effort with 12 points in the fourth quarter, but Junction kept the Punchers at bay with eight points of their own.

Mason's Ethan Powell and Junction's Isaac Rosas shared the game-high scoring mark with 10 points for their respective teams.

Junction moves to 1-1 in District 27-2A heading into their away game with Harper this Friday.

Mason falls to 1-1 and will travel to Center Point this Friday.

Blackwell Cools off Young Water Valley After Hot Start.

The Water Valley Wildcats held their own with Blackwell, but eventually fell short in a 50-35 loss on the road Tuesday.

The Wildcats started off hot in the first quarter behind a pair of three pointers from freshman Nathan Treadaway. That helped the Wildcats to a 14-13 lead after the first quarter.

However, Water Valley would go cold and score just four points in the second, falling behind 29-18 at the half.

The Wildcats made some ground in the third, outscoring Blackwell 9-8 behind defensive stops and senior Hunter Davis' four points.

Blackwell found a rhythm again in the fourth and outscored Water Valley 13-8 to secure the winning margin.

Davis and freshman Josiah Padilla each finished with nine points for Water Valley. Treadaway finished with six.

Water Valley falls to 0-4 in District 11-1A. They'll host Sterling City this Friday.

This story will be updated as scores and stats come in.