They both seem playoff-bound, and Wednesday night at the Tascosa Activity Center, Tascosa and Lubbock Monterey played exactly like that’s what was at stake.
Looking to at least stay near the top of District 3-5A, Tascosa lived up to that status most of the evening against Monterey, which entered the night in fourth place. That didn’t keep the game from having a hair-raising finish for the Rebels, who held on late for a 67-65 victory to stay a half-game behind district leader and crosstown rival Amarillo High.
No. 23 Tascosa (20-5, 9-1) led most of the evening and was up by as many as 14 points in the third quarter and by double digits in the fourth quarter. Monterey (21-8, 7-4), though, had other ideas, making the homestanding Tascosa faithful nervous during the final minutes.
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Even though his team built a seemingly comfortable lead, Tascosa coach Steve Jackson never felt comfortable.
“We knew Monterey has been in every game they’ve played this year,” Jackson said. “They’ve gotten some big wins in our district and in my opinion they’re a playoff team so we knew it was going to be a hard-fought contest. We did some really good things to get ourselves that double-digit lead, but Monterey does what good teams do, they hit some shots. They had some stops and we had some turnovers, but at the end of the day our kids fought for their place.”
Early on at least, Monterey appeared to be the epitome of a live and die by the 3-pointer team, as the Plainsmen hit four threes in the first quarter. Elijah Smothers opened the scoring with a pair of threes to give Monterey a short-lived early lead.
However, the Rebels were just as efficient from outside early as well. Ty’Zavien Collins hit two 3-pointers and LaDarius Godbolt scored 10 points as Tascosa took a 22-16 first quarter lead.
The Rebels led by as many as 10 in the first half and were up 38-30 at halftime. When it came to outside shooting, they almost matched Monterey, as the Plainsmen hit nine threes and Tascosa hit eight.
“We have some guys who can knock down an open three,” Jackson said. “We rely on those guys to hit shots when they’re open. Part of out offensive scheme is to develop those opportunities. We knew that Monterey has some guys who shoot the ball really well and we tried to limit those as best we could.”
Godbolt led Tascosa with 26 points and had eight in the third quarter as the Rebels looked ready to pull away. However, the Plainsmen stayed close and cut it to 50-45 by the end of the quarter.
The Rebels got the lead back to 10 in the fourth quarter, thanks in part to threes by Collins and Godbolt, but Monterey remained relentless. With just under two minutes left, the Plainsmen had whittled the deficit to 64-62.
Monterey was forced to foul and Godbolt hit one free throw, and after he missed the second, Monterey rebounded it, but the Plainsmen traveled, forcing a turnover. Tascosa’s Kayvion Blackshere was fouled with under 20 seconds left and hit both free throws to make it 67-65.
Those free throws were key, as Monterey’s Larry Galloway hit a 3-pointer, but it was too late for the Plainsmen.
Collins had 13 points for Tascosa and Ben Kenney added 11. Smothers had a game-high 28 points and Sam Arrington scored 14 for Monterey.