In their first District 5-5A game of the season on Tuesday, Dec. 19, the Aledo Bearcats battled back from a nine-point deficit at halftime to force overtime before dropping a heartbreaker to Saginaw at the buzzer, 58-57.
“When we give up 33 points in the first half, that’s not good enough,” Bearcats head coach JD Robinson said after the game. “Everybody’s going to look at the last play, but we played well enough in the second half to win. I wouldn’t want the ball in anyone else’s hands to step up there and shoot free-throws, except Joaquin.
“That’s not what beat us. We’ve got to get stops down the stretch. We lost track of man and ball. We did a bad job on the weak side. But I think we played a heck of a game in the second half, defensively. We played well enough to win.”
Aledo (8-7 overall) came out with a different look from their starting lineup against the Rough Riders. Robinson opted to go with a bigger group to start the game, giving Cohen Christie the start in lieu of Jackson Todd. Along with the increase in size came a more methodical approach early on. After winning the opening tip, the Bearcats melted a full minute off the game clock before Pacheco popped off a long ball from behind the arc to put the home team on the board with an early 3-0 lead.
The two teams traded blows as the game stayed close through the opening minutes with Aledo maintaining a slim lead. However, that changed with 3:16 left in the first quarter as the Rough Riders took their first lead of the game with the score at 8-7.
Brett Barclay knocked down a three-pointer to put the Bearcats back on top in their ensuing possession. But Saginaw answered right back with a three-pointer by Jaiden Gastile to make it an 11-10 game with 2:46 left in the opening frame.
The two teams battled at both ends of the floor with neither offense able to sink another basket until Jason Roseberry scored the final bucket of the quarter from three-point range to give Saginaw a 14-10 lead through one quarter of action.
In the second quarter Aledo’s defensive woes came knocking. The Rough Riders outpaced the Bearcats 19-14 in the second stanza as the visiting team took a nine-point lead into the break with the score 33-24.
“I challenged them at halftime,” Robinson said. “And they responded. You just want to win those close games. You’ve got to win those.”
Both teams came out of the break by finding ways to score, going shot-for-shot early. Aledo wasn’t able to close the gap on the scoreboard until they found a rhythm around the five-minute mark.
Todd knocked down a close jumper to cut the Rough Riders’ lead to 10. The next time down the floor Christie put one in from inside the paint to make it an eight-point game. Jack Sawyer stepped out to the baseline near the Bearcat bench, got a good look from behind the arc, and drained the long-range jumper to make it a 38-33 contest as Saginaw quickly called timeout in an attempt to halt the Bearcat rally.
When play resumed, Sawyer picked up right where he left off. Battling down low in the post, he scored buckets on back-to-back possessions to bring the Bearcats within striking distance, 39-37.
Aledo’s defense got the stop they needed on the next Saginaw possession, allowing Pacheco to zip past the defense for a layup that tied the game just as time expired in the third quarter.
As the fourth quarter got underway, Pacheco drove into the lane to knock down a mid-range jumper that gave the Bearcats their first lead since the 2:46 mark in the first quarter. He scored again with a layup the next time the Bearcats came down the floor to give the home team a two-possession lead with just over six minutes left in regulation.
The Rough Riders reeled Aledo back in to tie the game at 43-all with 4:45 left in the game. Neither team could muster much separation on the scoreboard in the final minutes, but Saginaw took a razor-thin lead with just 20 seconds left and the score standing at 50-48.
Aledo inbounded the ball, working their way diligently down the floor against Saginaw’s full-court press. With five seconds left, the Rough Riders managed to trap Pacheco next to the sideline near the Bearcat bench, forcing Robinson to call a timeout.
When play resumed, Aledo inbounded the ball along the sideline, got a quick pass off to Sawyer down in the post, who knocked down a clutch jumper just as time expired with a pair of Rough Riders bearing down on him. The last-second basket tied the game at 50 to force overtime.
Early on in the extra period, the Rough Riders controlled the scoring tempo. Saginaw would score. Then Aledo would answer back.
The visiting team managed to hold Aledo on their hip until Pacheco hit the nitrous button as he drove down the lane for a layup, drawing a hard foul for his efforts. Shooting the and one, he drained the free-throw to give the home team a slight 55-54 advantage with a minute left on the clock.
Sawyer drained a pair of free-throws with 30 seconds left in the game to give the Bearcats a three-point lead, 57-54, as time ticked by.
Saginaw cut the lead to one with 20 seconds left on the clock. On the next possession, the Rough Riders thought they had Pacheco trapped against the sideline once again, but the officials called a foul against Saginaw as they tried to rip the ball away. With the Bearcats in the bonus, Pacheco went to the line with an opportunity to make it a three-point game with seven seconds to go.
Pacheco came up empty from the charity stripe as Saginaw forced a turnover, hit the outlet, and sprinted down the floor with a two-on-one situation. As Peterson committed, Roseberry took the pass near the basket and sank a layup while drawing a foul that sent him crashing to the floor with just a fraction of a second left in the game. Leading 58-57, Roseberry missed the free throw. Sawyer got the rebound before making one last desperation heave the full length of the court as time expired. Unfortunately, for the Bearcats, the full-court shot missed its mark, as Saginaw earned a dramatic win in overtime.
Aledo will head to Bridgeport next week for a tournament that will get them four games in two days before returning home to resume district play when they travel to Brewer on Jan. 5. That game is slated for a 7:30 pm tipoff.
Bearcats vs. Saginaw – Dec. 19
Aledo 10 14 15 11 7 - 57
Saginaw 14 19 6 11 8 - 58
Aledo scoring: Jack Sawyer 27, Joaquin Pacheco 15, Cohen Christie 4, Owen Peterson 3, Brett Barclay 3, Jackson Todd 2, Cade Cunningham 2, Kaden LoBaugh 1.
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