MERTZON— The Christoval and Irion County rivalry is alive and well and continued tonight when the Hornets edged out a win over the Cougars, 40-37.
The Hornets actually let the Cougars come roaring back into this one and Christoval took a lead in the second half only for the Cougars to let Irion County fight back. The game ended on the Cougar’s end of the court after a couple of missed shots that would have taken the game to overtime.
Irion County have three aces in Tyler Henderson, Wyatt Morris, and Kron Xhemelji, a student from overseas, Kosovo, to be exact. The Cougars would not go quietly into the darkness and had a huge third quarter to take the lead.
Into the game the Cougars won the tip off and ended up with eight points, five from Gavin Balderas and three from sophomore Bruce Cooper. For Irion County, Xhemelji had six points, Henderson had four, Morris added two, and Iyran Davis sank one of two free throws. The Hornets led after one, 13-8.
Into the second, Henderson continued to throw up points, adding six to the board and Morris added two. The Cougars, as was the Hornets, were pretty consistent the entire game and added points accordingly. Cooper and Ethan Busch did the scoring right before halftime with Cooper putting up six and Busch adding three for a total of nine.
Going into the half, the Hornets held a small 21-17 lead over the Cougars, who would come out of the half ready to take off.
Coming out for the third quarter, the Hornets threw up a solid 10 points, five from Morris, three from Davis, and two from Xhemelji. The Cougars roared back with 15 points and claimed the lead from the Hornets, at home, in the Hive. Camdin Balderas and Garrett Thompson hit three three-pointers combined then Busch, Cooper, and Isreal Bogs all added two points each. Now the Cougars held a one-point lead over the Hornets, 32-31.
Enter the fourth quarter and the Cougars put five points on the board, which Bogs and Thompson added. The Hornets had an opportunity to add more as they were put on the free throw line several times and added nine points. Those came courtesy of Xhemelji, Henderson, and Morris. But nine was enough for the Hornets to reclaim the lead and finish out the year with a win, 40-37.
Do not be misled as the Cougars had the chance to send the game to overtime but could not connect on a three-point shot. The Hornets took the victory in the Hive, 40-37. Irion County will face the Brady Bulldogs on January 2, 2024, and the Christoval Cougars will head to Ozona to take on the Lions in a district matchup on that same date.
This rivalry is always fun, especially now with two fiery coaches in the Cougar’s Matthew Lowery and the Hornet’s John Morrow. Both coaches run great programs for their respective schools that will not quit the entire game.
SCORING (IC – CHS)
- 1st— 13 – 8
- 2nd— 8 – 9 (21 – 17)
- 3rd— 10 – 15 (31 – 32)
- 4th— 9 -5 (40 – 37)
IC: Morris- 13, Henderson- 12, Xhemelji- 11, Davis- 4
3-Point Shots: Morris- 1, Davis- 1
CHS: Cooper- 11, Thompson- 6, Camdin Balderas- 6, Gavin Balderas- 5, Busch- 5, Bogs- 4
3-Point Shots: Camdin Balderas- 2, Thompson- 1, Cooper- 1
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