"I also think we've gotten a lot better in the last couple of weeks. The Eagles dropped the tournament finale 54-33. Missing its top two inside scoring threats, the Wylie boys struggled to score against Fort Worth Chisholm trail in a 44-23 loss to close out its four Catclaw games.Ībilene High's Hayden Williams (3) follows through on a shot during Saturday's Catclaw Classic game against Midland Christian at Wylie's Bulldog Gym on Dec. “It’s going to be another blood bath next Friday at Cooper,” Reese said. Reese knows that will be another battle like Saturday’s game. The Eagles play Cooper on Friday at Cougar Gym. A good learning experience for us.”ĪHS plays Wylie on Tuesday at Eagle Gym, while Cooper goes to Brownwood on Tuesday. Justin does a good job with those guys and got them playing hard and running stuff that they’re successful with. “They’re a good team, man,” Conover said. 11, 2021, at Wylie's Bulldog Gym.Ĭonover was impressed with AHS’ gritty comeback. The Eagles beat Cooper 56-55 at the Catclaw Classic on Saturday, Dec. Gonzalez came up empty on the drive with AHS leading 56-55 with 12.8 seconds left in the game.
We’ll have to keep getting better, but that was a good game for us.”Ĭooper's Andrew Gonzalez (1) drives to the basket as Abilene High's Hayden Williams defends. But our sophomores got in there and competed, were fearless and made big shots and big stops and big plays. They made some mistakes – kind of good play and bad play right now. “And I thought our young guys were fearless today. We’ve been talking to our older guys, our experienced guys, about leadership, and it was a lot better today through some adversity. They finish the tournament Saturday night against Midland Christian. Now, after a 50-43 loss to Chisholm Trail in the tournament opener Thursday, the Eagles have wins over Wylie (63-42), Canutillo (65-54) and Cooper. It wasn’t pretty, but a win’s a win – and every win is important for a young, inexperienced AHS team that came into the tournament 2-6 with wins over Borger and Early. I don’t know if it’s the pressure of the game. … Which is weird because we’re about 82 percent on the season. “We don’t make one,” Conover said about the last six free-throw attempts. 11, 2021, at Wylie's Bulldog Gym.ĪHS turned it over one more time, but Cooper couldn’t get a good inbounds pass with 2.4 seconds to go – sealing the Eagles’ win.
But Willis missed both free throws with 5.7 seconds remaining.Ībilene High's Antoine Rashaw drives against Cooper's Colin Reed as Jaelyn Rivera (4) looks on in the second half. Williams missed the front-end of a 1-and-1 with 12.8 seconds left and Jordan Willis was fouled – giving Cooper another shot. Reed and Cherry both two free throws each, and, after an AHS turnover, Gonzalez came up empty on a drive to the basket. The Coogs cut it to one (54-53) on a pair of free throws by Rivera, but Antoine Rashaw answered with what proved to be the game-winning basket with 2:14 to go.Ĭherry cut to one at the other end, and the Coogs had their chances in the final minute. Jackson then hit two free throws after a Cooper turnover. Cooper rallied to tie it, but Upshaw’s 3-pointer broke the tie with 5:06. 11, 2021, at Wylie's Bulldog Gym.Ĭherry hit a layup to put the Coogs back in front, but Williams’ basket sent the game into the final frame tied at 45.ĪHS opened the final quarter with a 4-0 run for its first lead with 6:22 left in the game. Cooper hit three.Ĭooper's Andrew Gonzalez, right, battles Abilene High's Kelton Jackson for the ball.
The difference then? AHS hit six 3-point goals, including two each by Upshaw and Jackson. While AHS hit one more shot from the field (22-21) than Cooper, the Coogs hit 10 of 17 free throws – four more than the Eagles. Colin Reed had 13, while Andrew Gonzalez and Jalen Cherry had 11 apiece. Hayden Williams led AHS with a game-high 19 points, while Demarco Upshaw and Kelton Jackson added 11 and 10, respectively.Ĭatclaw Classic Day 2: Abilene High races past Wylie, Cooper picks up another big winĬatclaw Classic Day 1: Gritty Canutillo pulls out overtime win over Wylie
We kind of fell apart and lost another one-point game.” It seemed liked they wanted it a little more. “They played harder in the second half than us. “Credit to them,” Cooper coach Bryan Conover said. Their last three losses have been by four points or less. Fort Worth Chisholm Trail beat them 51-50 less than 24 hours earlier. It was another heartbreaking loss for the Coogs (7-5). Abilene High's Hayden Williams (3) shoots between Cooper's Kameron Gray, left, and Maxwell Falade (12) in the second half.