Aledo’s Bearcats had their toughest test of the young season on Friday, Nov. 17, when they took on Weatherford on the Kangaroos’ home court. After trailing for the first three quarters, the Bearcats turned the intensity all the way up, frustrating the Roos at both ends of the floor, as Aledo went on to a 55-51 win.
“We’ve got a group of guys that haven’t really done this together at all,” Bearcats head coach JD Robinson remarked about his young team. “Every win for us is good. But to play behind for the majority of the game - I really challenged them at halftime that I didn’t think we were that tough.
“That has to be our M.O. We’ve got to be blue collar. We’ve got to do the little things right. We’ve got to be mentally tough and physically tough. We did that the second half.”
With the win, Aledo moves to 2-1 on the season.
After winning the opening tipoff, things quickly went sideways for the Bearcats in the opening moments of the game. Aledo took the ball down to their end of the floor, but came up empty in their opening possession.
Weatherford did not have the same issue.
The Roos marched down the court, where Kane Chandler knocked down a long-range jumper to get the scoring underway. Weatherford immediately transitioned to a full-court press to force Aledo turnovers on back-to-back inbound passes. Before the Bearcats could blink, the home team held a 6-0 advantage.
Aledo made adjustments to deal with the pressure at the far end of the floor, but continued to struggle with it on the offensive end. Meanwhile, Weatherford found ways to get their entire offense involved, as the Roos took a 20-13 lead into the second quarter.
The furious pace of play in the opening stanza took its toll on both teams in the second quarter. The scoring frenzy slowed as each squad put up 11 points before the break. At halftime Weatherford held on to a seven-point lead, 31-24.
The second half started much the same way the first half ended, with the Roos scoring on their first possession of the half with little opposition from Aledo. Robinson quickly called a timeout just 40 seconds into the third quarter to reassert the message he shared during halftime.
Coming out of the timeout, the Bearcats had a completely different attitude from that point on.
“I credit that to Owen Peterson,” said Robinson. “I challenged him. I felt like he turned down a charge. It’s gotta be who we are. Taking a charge, diving on the floor for loose balls – that has to be our M.O. That’s got to be our culture. I challenged him right there. I challenged him that he’s got to be a lot tougher than that, and he is. Owen’s a tough, tough kid. I don’t think he’ll turn down another charge after that, and we fed off of that.”
After struggling to keep the Roos from scoring in the first quarter, then struggling to make up any ground in the second quarter, the Bearcats began to scratch and claw their way back following that timeout.
Leading the charge for Aledo was Joaquin Pacheco. The junior point guard knocked down a three-pointer before laying one off the glass on a fastbreak on the ensuing possession to cut Weatherford’s lead to just four points with 5:15 left in the third quarter.
The visiting Bearcats continued to chip away at the Roos lead over the next several minutes. After struggling to get his shots to fall in the first two games of the year, Jack Sawyer found his shot and his confidence all while contending with one of the best post players he’s likely to see this season in Weatherford’s Brenden Ballard. With just over two minutes left in the third stanza, Sawyer laid a short layup off the window to tie the game at 38-all.
It was the first time since the opening score Weatherford did not hold the advantage.
Weatherford outscored the Bearcats 6-2 to close out the third quarter, but their confidence, along with the momentum, had shifted in favor of Aledo.
The opening minutes of the fourth quarter were reminiscent of a heavyweight prize fight as the two teams traded scoring blows with neither backing down. With 3:44 left in the game, Kaden LoBaugh scored on a three-point shot that stunned the Roos. On the ensuing possession the Bearcat defense countered Weatherford’s attack as the home team came up empty.
With their opponent squarely on the ropes, Aledo went on the offensive, landing blow after blow. The Bearcats were able to poke the ball loose as Pacheco led the charge to the Bearcats end of the floor. Sliding across the hardwood, Pacheco came up with the loose ball before dishing it off, allowing Sawyer to knock down a six-foot jumper that tied the game at 48-48.
Aledo took their first lead of the game with 2:16 remaining when Peterson was fouled during a three-point attempt. Converting just one of three free throws was still enough to put the Bearcats on top 49-48 with time winding down in regulation.
Sawyer and Pacheco each added a free-throw before Pacheco put the nail in the coffin going coast-to-coast with the steal and layup off a fast break with 32 seconds left.
Ballard converted the old-fashioned three-point play to cut Aledo’s lead to just two with nine ticks left on the clock. The Roos flocked to foul Jackson Todd on the inbound pass to send the shooting guard to the charity stripe with eight seconds left. Todd nailed both shots to salt away the game for the Bearcats, 55-51.
“I thought the biggest difference in the second half was we were able to contest and also keep in front,” Robinson said. “We had a lot of blow-bys in the first half. I thought we did a much better job of contesting and keeping them in front in the second half.
“Joaquin Pacheco makes a huge play, a huge play, diving on the floor for a loose ball and we get Jack to the free-throw line. Jackson Todd, on the other end, taking a big-time charge. Those are game-winning plays for us. Those are what sets us apart. Those are what makes a difference between winning and us losing one-possession games. Those plays are what wins games,” he added.
Aledo will return to action on Tuesday, Nov. 28 following Thanksgiving break. They head to Midlothian Heritage to take on the Jaguars at 7:30 pm.
Bearcats vs. Weatherford – Nov. 17
Aledo 13 11 16 15 - 55
Weatherford 20 11 13 7 - 51
Aledo scoring: Joaquin Pacheco 23, Jack Sawyer 14, Jackson Todd 10, Owen Peterson 5, Kaden LoBaugh 3.
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