The San Saba Armadillo basketball season started abruptly this year due to an awesome football season and going two deep in the playoffs. With one day of practice, we traveled to Harper on November 24th. You could tell we had one day of practice. We were pretty rusty. Harper won the contest 58-29. J Miles led the scoring for the Dillos with 10 pts, Tucker Cromer had 8 pts, Chase Key had 3 pts, Braden McBee, Ryan Pannell, and Hayden Oliver had 2 pts, and Pete Torres had 1 pt.

On December 1st, we hosted Johnson City. We jumped out on them 12-5 after the 1st quarter, and led 21-13 at the half. Johnson City made a run in the 3rd to make it 26-23. We outscored them 12-9 in the fourth and won the game 38-32. Tucker Cromer led the Dillos with 13, J Miles had 10, Braden McBee had 9, Chance Gotcher had 4, and Chase Key had 2.

On December 3rd thru 5th, we hosted our annual boys' tournament. Teams that came were Troy, Goldthwaite, Lampasas JV, Llano, and Henrietta-Midway. We played a round robin format. Troy won the tournament with a record of 4-0. Llano finished second with a record of 3-1. There was a 3 way tie for third with San Saba, Lampasas JV, and Henrietta Midway all beating each other. San Saba won third on the tie breaker. It was a good tournament for the Dillos. After an overtime loss to Lampasas30-42, we then faced tournament champion Troy and lost to them 28-45. In the third round we faced a much improved Llano team and lost 27-41. In the fourth round San Saba beat Henrietta Midway 51-44. Although our tournament record doesn’t show it, we improved and got better with each game we played. We have struggled with scoring points this season. Our defense has played well enough to win, but we have got to convert our shots.

Now, there are numerous "Thank Yous" that need to go out to everyone that helped with the Boys tournament. I’ll start with the administration. We have an awesome administration that is great to work with and is very supportive of our athletic programs. Thank you Mrs. Glaze for allowing us to have our tournament and for the cheese dip. Thanks goes to Mr. Stewart for his support and being there all three days helping out with the tournament. Also, a big thank you goes to Coach Pannell for organizing all the workers (and working), helping set up the hospitality room, and for being an awesome AD to work for!!

You couldn’t have a tournament without a hospitality room, and if it wasn’t for Kara Stowe and Brandi Easterwood’s hard work, we couldn’t have done it. Thank you so much for all you did in helping with the hospitality room and keeping it in order. Thank you to all the players and their parents who donated food items to the hospitality room. Special thanks to Mrs. Oliver and Mrs. Cromer and the booster club for supplying the main courses on Friday and Saturday. The tamales were a hit and so was the Barbeque. I would also like to thank Blanca Zepeda for making the beans. They were awesome!!

Thank yous also go to Kaycee Thiebaud, Emma Stewart, and Mark Dyer for helping out with the gate. Thank you to Penny Pulatie, Drew Escamilla, Melanie Mathis, Shay Easterwood, and Jeff Pannell for keeping the books and clock for each game.

I would also like to especially thank Jackie Dyer for her help and support. Jackie, along with Mrs. Saucillo, printed off the big brackets in the gym foyer and by the locker rooms. Jackie also printed up the tournament passes and ran the music for us between games. Thank you for all you do!!! I also need to thank Phyllis for keeping the gym clean and for sweeping the floors between games.

There are so many people to thank, but I am sure that I have missed someone. If I did, I apologize, and just know that your help is greatly appreciated.

When this comes out in the paper we will have played Goldthwaite on Dec. 8th, and we will travel to Eastland on Dec. 11th.