Points, be they style or through the ball making it into the basket, were in short supply Thursday afternoon when the Tascosa boys hosted Amarillo High in a game which made an early statement in District 3-5A.
It didn’t necessarily look that great in the end and it took four minutes longer than scheduled, but as far as Amarillo High was concerned, it was a masterpiece, or at least worth keeping.
In a game where nobody cracked the 40-point barrier until overtime, Amarillo High persevered, holding on for a 41-36 victory in a game where the winner embraced winning “ugly.” In the end, it was beautiful for the Sandies (15-3, 4-0 in district), who had sole possession of the district lead heading into Christmas.
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It was the latest clash between coaches Jason Pillion of Amarillo High and Steve Jackson of Tascosa, who have embraced the defense-first concepts they learned playing for coach Rick Cooper at West Texas A&M. Pillion in particular is a disciple of the style, which is why he found the win especially pleasing.
“The thing about both of us this year is that both of us are very inexperienced,” said Pillion of his team and Tascosa (11-4, 2-1). “It’s the first meaningful environment either team has been in. I think some of that played a factor in that young fellows had nerves. Their defense, our defense were both good and I’m really proud we had to grit out an ugly game.”
There were as many combined points as the two teams are capable of scoring on their own in one game, but it was as competitive as expected. Amarillo High led by eight points on a couple of occasions, the biggest lead either team held.
Both teams went fairly cold from the field in the fourth quarter, as the Sandies saw their lead slip away by scoring only seven points. The Rebels stayed in the game with 3-point shooting, as Jack Corpening hit three treys in the fourth quarter.
However, it was LaDarius Godbolt’s three with just over a minute left which gave the Rebels their only lead of the game, 34-32. With 16 seconds left, Amarillo High’s Jaxson Richards hit an off balance shot in the lane to tie it 34-34 and eventually force overtime.
In the overtime Richards, who had a game-high 22 points and is Amarillo High’s top 3-point shooter, hit his only three of the game, giving the Sandies a 37-34 lead which they never relinquished.
“(Richards) is by far our scorer,” Pillion said. “When he’s going it relaxes everybody. When he hit that shot I think everybody on the team said ‘Oh yeah, that’s normal.’ To score 22 points and only hit one three means he’s doing other things to score the ball which is important because he wasn’t doing that earlier in the year.”
Later in the overtime, Tate Maybin scored a layup for his only points of the game to stretch Amarillo High’s lead to 39-34. Tascosa’s only overtime points came on a dunk by Ben Kenney, and Richards gave the Sandies their final margin by hitting two free throws.
The Sandies may have established themselves as the team to beat in district so far, but there’s a whole lot of basketball to be played. Pillion thinks his team took a big step.
“It’s a huge confidence builder,” Pillion said. “It’s a belief builder. The first game of the year we scored 87 points (beating Randall 87-44). My question was can we win an ugly basketball game in the 30s. We’ve come that far since.”
Corpening and Godbolt both had 13 to lead Tascosa.
Monday and Tuesday’s boys’ district games
District 3-5A
Amarillo High 41, Tascosa 36, OT
Palo Duro 100, Caprock 38
Lubbock-Cooper 58, Lubbock High, 49
Plainview 63, Lubbock Coronado 47
District 4-4A
Pampa 86, Borger 34
Randall 59, Dumas 52
West Plains 84, Hereford 44
Canyon 67, Perryton 42
District 2-3A
Idalou 64, Friona 24
Shallowater 83, Lubbock Roosevelt 38
Slaton 69, Littlefield 45
District 2-2A
Panhandle 62, Wheeler 39
Wellington 57, Memphis 43
Quanah 45, Clarendon 40