Tigers take second loss against Marshall
JaNiro Lane drives toward the basket during the boys varsity basketball game against Marshall. The Mavericks defeated the Tigers 86 – 68.
Before the ball was tossed into the air for tip off, the intensity and pressure were incredibly high. While Marshall had a lead in the beginning of the first quarter, the Tigers fought to shift the momentum in their favor, including a dunk junior Jacobie Brown. It was a close score at the end of the first quarter, Marshall leading 21-17.
“I think we came out pretty nervous, it was a very big game for us,” senior Damien Willis said. “The intensity was very high. We were stagnant at the beginning, but we made some good plays and we just kept playing.”
In the second quarter, Marshall was beginning to take over, but the tigers continued to fight. Despite the Tiger’s aggressive defense the Mavericks began to widen the gap, leading 42-33 at the half.
“They tried to make us play at a faster pace than we were used to, we could have calmed down,” Willis said. “We slowed down a little bit and had a good run back and forth.”
After half time, Marshall really took control. It fed into their crowd almost took away home court advantage for the Tigers. Marshall’s Tiondre Jackson-Young, kept getting fed the ball, having 21 points. At the end of the third it was looking rough for the Tigers, trailing 63-51.
The Mavericks put the nail in the coffin in the fourth quarter. Marshall won 86-68 by forcing more turnovers and scoring on fast break opportunities. Marshall shot over 50% from the field and forced 28 Texas High turnovers for the game while only having 20. Jackson-Young finished with 27 points of his own for the Mavericks and simply could not be stopped.
“Rebounds– that’s the main reason we lost,” Brown said. “So basically, we need to work on blocking out and getting rebounds. We’ve got to come together as a team and work hard. Defense, play hard, come out hard, and get back in it.”
While there weren’t as many positives, junior RJ Reid finished the game with 17 points, Junior Jacobie Brown had 10 points, and freshman Vonderick Stanley had 5 assists and 3 steals. Texas High also shot 47% from the field as a team.
“We had a lot of turnovers, and we weren’t making our shots when we were wide open,” freshman Lavon Brown said. “We’re going to play together as a team and do work together in order to perform in the playoffs.”
Texas High’s next game will be Friday Feb. 13, at home against Greenville High school.
Luke Smith is a junior at Texas High School. He joined the newspaper staff this year after discovering an interest for writing. Luke does not only write...
Sara Rogers is a second year staff photographer and a member of the online newspaper. She is a senior at Texas High, and she is a member of Rosebuds. She...
