A Team - Back in November, we ended football and just four practices later we were playing our first game at Comanche on November 13. Our team members are: Aaron Perez, Russton Ellis, Isaac Zepeda, Ryan Guidroz, Russell Lowe, Michael McKinnerney, Sean Argote, and J.T. Mathis. We knew that Comanche was usually good at basketball, plus had an extra week of practices. We were able to make some shots and play good enough defense to come away with a win 25-18. We caught a break because our next three games were all to be played at home in our "friendly confines". On November 17, Dublin came to our place. They had an outstanding ball handler and another good shooting guard. These two combined for all 27 of their points (22 by the ball handler). We managed to mix up our press and defenses to pull out a one point win, 28-27. Next was Goldthwaite on November 24. It seemed that several distractions did not allow us to play our best game. Our shots were not going in, we did not rebound hardly any, and our defense was not solid. We did not beat the Eagles and the score was 15-35. We should get revenge next time. After the Thanksgiving break, we came back to host Comanche on December 1. We were a little sluggish and shots were not falling again. Even after scoring one point in the first half, we went into the 4th quarter only down by 6. Sure enough, we pressed a little harder and more intense, got some quick turnovers, gained the momentum and the lead winning the game 25-24 much to the amazement of all who were there. Then, we traveled to Brady on December 6 for their annual tournament. We drew Wall first and again knew this would be a tough team to face. The Hawks were a little one dimensional also because they had a boy who must have been 6'3". We used a zone defense so we could bracket him (front and back), keeping the ball out of his hands. This worked for the first half and we had the lead 8-7. In the second half, some of their other players started making their shots and we went a little cold, losing the game 25-34. The second game of the tournament was against Brady. Our boys shot well and applied pressure to gain an early lead. We kept the pressure on and never really let Brady get back into the game. We won the game and Consolation with a score of 39-17. Then, we went to Dublin on December 8. Again we knew we had to stop their main two players. We used a little different zone that still allowed to pressure the ball and keep two people around #23 at all times. Their other shooter hit some shots early on, but got cold by halftime. With their main player tying to drive and score, nobody was getting back on defense for the Lions. We had a lot of fast break points that helped us to win the game 43-29. Here are the box scores for the games mentioned above. I apologize for losing track of this. Look for more regular write-ups in the paper when we return after the Christmas break.