Jim Ned Boys Outlast Wall to Claim District Title

WALL, TX — Leaving Wall with a district title is no easy task.

That was the challenge facing the Jim Ned boys basketball team Friday with a chance to lock up the District 6-3A championship.

On the road against its biggest rival, Jim Ned jumped out to an early lead and held on for a 58-49 win thanks to a stellar defensive performance and 25 points from Wyatt Nickson.

“It’s a tough place to play,” Jim Ned head coach Blake Allen said. “It brings back a lot of memories from old times. We’ve had a lot of rivalry games happen in this gym. It’s a fun gym because everybody’s kind of close to the court. So we knew it was going to be tough. We knew they’d have good support, and we knew we’d travel well.

“I’m just proud of the guys for the resilience they showed all night long and playing through this environment.”

It was the final game of the regular season for Jim Ned (21-6 overall, 11-1 in district), which won’t begin its playoff run until Feb. 17 or 18.

Wall not only missed out on a chance for a share of the district title, but the Hawks (17-12 overall, 8-3 in district) will now likely finish in third place behind Sweetwater (13-12, 9-2).

Wall fell behind 13-5 by the end of the first quarter, and the Hawks were playing catch-up the rest of the night.

They stayed within striking distance all game, however.

Lane Stansberry hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to pull Wall within 31-24 at halftime, but it was the only points he scored in the first half against Jim Ned’s stingy defense.

“Jim Ned did a good job mixing it up on us,” Wall head coach Parker Roberts said. “Coach Allen does a great job over there. He was listening when I was calling plays, and if I called a man play, he’d switch into their zone, just kind of making it tough for us. They did a good job trying to keep us out of the paint. I felt like we did a good job adjusting in the second, third and fourth quarters, but that first quarter killed us, digging ourselves an eight-point hole.

“I felt our guys did a good job adjusting and responding, but at the same time, those dudes were hounding us, making it tough for us to get anything going offensively, so credit to them.”

Paxton Brake had 18 points to lead Wall, including an 8-of-9 showing from the free-throw line. Stansberry had 11 points, nine rebounds, a steal and a block.

The Indians relied heavily on the offense of Nickson, who scored 15 points in the first half and hit some key free throws down the stretch.

"He's been big for us all year long," Allen said. "He's worked hard, and we love him to death. He's a great player. As he goes, we go. There's no selfish guy on this team. They know we need to get him the ball, and that's a huge part of our success."

Jim Ned stretched its lead to as much as 15 points at 44-29 late in the third quarter. Wall made a push, however, and got within 49-44 on a couple of free throws by Brake.

When the Hawks drew a charge on the next possession with 3:09 remaining, they had a chance to get within one score, but Jim Ned's defense held strong down the stretch to seal the win.

Roberts said he's proud of the way his team responded in the second half against Jim Ned. He's also optimistic about the team continuing to improve after welcoming back Stansberry last month from a football injury.

"The guys haven't played a lot of games with Lane in there, so we're just trying to get those guys playing more together and to get more comfortable with each other. Hopefully it gets rolling and we can try to get on a run in the playoffs," Roberts said.  

Wall will play again Tuesday in San Angelo at fourth-place TLCA to finish the regular season.

Jim Ned responded to a 60-55 loss to Sweetwater in its second district game by rattling off 10 wins in a row. The Indians beat Wall 56-41 in their first meeting, and they edged Sweetwater 52-50 in the rematch, which went a long way toward determining the district title.