The boys basketball team has provided shocker games to fans after winning their two previous games. The surprise is not that the boys can win a basketball game or that they possess the skill to play the game. No, the bombshell is that in both the Frenship game and the Randall games, the boys trailed on the scoreboard at half-time yet victoriously left the court after the buzzer.
After trailing through three quarters during the game against Frenship, the boys held the Tigers to six points in the fourth period for a 50-47 win.
Down by nine points at halftime and down by sixteen at one point during the Randall game, the boys reused their momentum from the win against Frenship. Sophomore Will Toliver said the team started the game off flat and Coach Crenshaw pumped them up before taking the court after halftime.
“Randall really surprised me by how determined they started the game,” Toliver said. “They shot the ball lights out in the first half. Coach got us ready to start the second half. He personally challenged me to lead the team to victory. I accepted his challenge.”
Toliver lead the team to a 61-52 victory after he scored 19 points in the second half. A three pointer made by senior Brayden Kimsey with 67 seconds remaining in the game, two clutch threes by junior Derek Odell and big shots made by Trevor Davis helped the team recovered from a 12 point deficit in the first quarter.
“Once we finally took the lead in the fourth quarter, we could tell that Randall was giving up,” Toliver said. “We were not going to let them back into the game because Coach always talks about finishing games and never letting up.”
The boys say they hope to find the same momentum to defeat Palo Duro tomorrow at 7:30 at home.
“Palo Duro is a good team and one of the best in the area but I think we are a good team and people underestimate us,” Toliver said. “We have to go out there and play fearless and execute on both ends of the court. I think if we don’t worry about the name of the team we are playing and just play our game it will be a good one.”
