(Seguin) – The District 26-5A win column remains elusive for the Seguin boys basketball team after a 67-59 loss to Alamo Heights on Tuesday at Goldie Harris Gym.
The Matadors fell behind by as many as 20 points in the second quarter and trailed 36-19 at halftime. Seguin came storming back in the third quarter with an 18-4 run, including 11 straight points to cap it, and the deficit was only three, 40-37, late in period.
The Mules responded with a 14-0 surge of their own to push the margin back to 17 early in the fourth quarter, and the Matadors came no closer than eight points the rest of the way.
Seguin head coach Guy Nowlin says the third quarter run can be a positive to build on if his young team can learn to play that efficiently for the full 32 minutes.
“I always tell these guys, we might be the best defensive team in the district and the stats might not show that right now, but that’s because we’re not doing it for four quarters full,” Nowlin said. “Adjustments were made at halftime, and these guys came out and played their tails off, gave us a chance, got us back in the game. I couldn’t be more proud of their defensive effort in the second half. I just wish it would have started earlier in the first half.”
Sophomore guard Devin Mathews led all scorers with 17 points. He scored 15 on five threes in the second half.
Michael Cornelius added 11 points, and Nick Matallanes finished with 10. Jacob Andrade contributed seven points, Kaleb McCann six, Johathan Jackson five, and Xander Harrell three.
The Matadors drained a season-high 10 three pointers as a team. Nowlin says they were due after a recent offensive dry spell.
“We’ve been in a slump here these last couple of games shooting percentage-wise,” the coach said. “So it was good to see shots go in for them, for their confidence. Going back to Saturday (at Dripping Springs) and today’s game, we executed well offensively, we’re getting looks. It’s just a matter of getting the ball to do down for us now, and we were able to do that in the second half especially.”
The loss drops Seguin to 0-5 in district play, 2-10 overall. The Matadors host San Antonio-Veterans Memorial in a district game on Friday at 6:45 p.m.
The Patriots, coached by Steven Perez, come in with a 2-4 district record and a 7-5 overall mark after defeating Kyle-Lehman 85-66 on Tuesday.
Senior guard Jalen Bonds leads Veterans Memorial with 17.1 points per game, and forward Eric Green averages 11 points and a team-high 6.5 rebounds.
Nowlin sees Friday as an opportunity to turn the district season around if the Matadors can avoid a big deficit early against a Patriots team that averages 71 points per outing.
“These guys are great kids,” Nowlin said. “They keep working their tails off, they’re getting better and better, our chemistry’s improving, and with all of those things, hopefull we can get off to a faster start.”
Friday’s Seguin – Veterans Memorial game will air live on KWED 1580-AM and Seguintoday.com. Pre-game coverage from Goldie Harris Gym starts at 6:30 p.m.