BROCK – Both the Aledo boys and girls basketball teams took the court Tuesday night, Dec. 3 with a pre-district doubleheader at Brock High School.
Aledo’s hoops programs had mixed results on the night against the Eagles and Lady Eagles, with the team splitting wins. The Ladycats fell 39-19 in a defensive struggle before the Bearcats held on at the buzzer for a 53-52 victory.
Aledo trailed by as many as 11 points before using its full-court press to get back into the game. Aledo continued to creep closer in the fourth quarter before finally overtaking Brock by one point with multiple defensive stops in the final seconds before the buzzer sounded.
“We really felt like we were having a tough time getting into the flow of the game in the first half, and our guys really want to play hard and show how tough and gritty they can play,” Bearcats associate head coach Travis Jones said. “We came out in a full-court press in the second half and, with our guys being able to create offense from our defense, we felt like that was the best way for us to excel.”
Star senior guard Joaquin Pacheco kept the Bearcats competitive by scoring 10 of his team’s 18 first-half points that kept Aledo within 27-18 at intermission. Aledo trimmed the deficit to 18-17 with 4:00 left in the first, but Brock ended the half on a 9-1 run, as Brock junior guard Jacoby Boxell scored six of those points on two 3-pointers.
Then, Pacheco and his backcourt running mates started to sizzle on both ends of the court.
“It’s been our biggest blessing this year,” Jones said of the team’s guards. “We’re not always the biggest or fastest team, but we play harder than anybody else in the state. These guys love to play basketball more than anything, and it’s really hard to stop them once they get on a run. And our guys number 10 here (Caden Cunningham) is one of the most aggressive guys in the state. He’s really come out of his shell this year and hit some big shots for us in really clutch moments.”
Sophomore guard Caden Cunningham had the hot hand in the second half and made his first of five 3-pointers with 6:02 left in the third quarter, which trimmed the Eagles’ lead to 29-23. Later in the frame, he drilled another long ball from the wing with 3:05 remaining in the third to cut Brock’s advantage to 35-30. Pacheco made a pair of layups on the break to pull Aledo within three points late in the quarter, but Brock scored the final three points to enter the fourth with a 42-36 lead.
Aledo opened up the scoring in the fourth quarter with a pair of free throws by Cunningham to whittle Brock’s lead down to four points. After that, Joaquin Pacheco scored inside off the feed from his younger brother Enrique Pacheco, and the elder Pacheco brother put back a missed shot moments later to pull within 44-42 at the 5:22 mark of the fourth quarter. Boxell and Pacheco traded layups before Cunningham swished a clutch 3-pointer with 3:37 that gave Aledo its first lead at 47-46. Following that triple, he drained another one from the corner with 2:52 to go to extend the Bearcats lead to 50-46.
“My teammates believed in me, gave me the ball and knew I could knock my shots down,” Aledo sophomore guard Caden Cunningham said. “This whole team continues to cheer me on – they’re great teammates. They’re always encouraging me and telling me I can do whatever.”
Boxell scored twice in the following minute for Brock to tie the action at 50-all heading into the final moments of regulation, but Pacheco split a pair of free throws with 48.6 seconds remaining to give Aledo a 51-50 edge. Boxell hit a baseline floater with 31 ticks left to give Brock its last lead at 52-51 before Pacheco put Aledo in front to stay at 53-52 with a crafty driving layup with less than 15 seconds left in regulation.
“Our bond together has been strong,” Cunningham said. “We play great as a team, we all hustle all over the court and the coaching has been great.”
Joaquin Pacheco finished with a game-high 25 points, Cunningham scored 19 points and Enrique Pacheco chipped in with seven. Boxell scored a team-high 23 points for the Eagles.
The Bearcats (6-0) remained unbeaten with the victory and will be in action again in the Abilene Key City Classic Tournament from Thursday through Saturday.
The Aledo Ladycats took the floor against the Brock Lady Eagles before the boys game, and the two teams battled it out through a defensive slugfest. Ultimately, the Ladycats couldn’t carve up Brock’s stingy defense, falling on the road by a final score of 39-19.
After the teams combined for just nine first-quarter points, Brock began to force the issue. Sophomore guard Jaycee Riddle drained a corner 3 with 7:12 left before halftime to extend the lead to 8-4. Later in the frame, she collected a steal, drew a foul and split a pair of free throws to make it 9-4 with 4:48 left.
After Aledo scored the next three points to cut Brock’s lead to 9-7, Lady Eagles star senior Keira Mathews and freshman Laney Hudson hit layups on consecutive possessions to make it 13-7 with 1:48 left. Then, Ladycats sophomore guard Brooklyn Dempsey drew a foul and split a pair of free throws to pull Aledo within 13-8 19 seconds later, but Mathews scored the final three points of the frame to give Brock a 16-8 lead at intermission.
The Ladycats came out of the gates hot entering the third quarter of action. Junior guard Elizabeth Griffin finished tough layups against quality defense on two strong takes to the basket to trim Aledo’s deficit to 16-12 with 5:51 left, but Riddle answered with a big 3-pointer. Later, senior post Kinley Elms grabbed her own missed layup and hit a baseline jumper to cut Brock’s lead to 20-15 with 4:15 left, but Riddle responded with another triple that extended the lead to 23-15 with 3:33 remaining. Griffin hit a floater at the 2:05 mark to make it a 24-17 ballgame, but Brock scored again, entering the fourth quarter with a nine-point advantage. From there, Brock’s defense clamped down, outscoring Aledo 13-2 in the final quarter for the 20-point win.
Tiara Butler led Aledo with a team-high seven points while Griffin added six points. Dempsey and Elms each finished with three points. Mathews led Brock with a game-high 13 points, Riddle scored 11 and Hudson had nine.
The Ladycats (5-5) will see the hardwood again in the Burleson Tournament from Thursday through Saturday.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here