Smoking For Jesus boys basketball defeats Lometa for first time in four tries
The Smoking For Jesus boys basketball beat Lometa 85-67 Jan. 6 for the Eagles’ first win against the Hornets.
The Eagles (8-10, 1-0 in district play of the Texas Association of Independent Athletic Organizations) took a 19-13 lead after the opening stanza, a 50-27 advantage at the intermission, and a 68-44 lead after three quarters that allowed them to cruise to victory.
“This is the first time we beat them in four years,” head coach Boo Maxwell said. “Every time we’ve played them, it’s been a rousing game. It was good to beat those guys.”
He noted the Eagles used their defense to lead the way to their offense.
“We worked our press this game,” he said. “I’ve been trying to get the guys in touch with the press. We took a pretty good lead. We slipped up and had a couple of turnovers that brought it back down (in the second half). It went back and forth, and we fought till the end.”
The lead allowed Maxwell to insert reserves in the fourth quarter.
“We ended up pulling the game off,” he said. “We dominated from the beginning.”
Senior post Bryson Culver led with 26 points and 11 rebounds followed by senior guard Isaac Legier with 22 points, 10 assists and 5 steals. Senior guard Jonathan Frazier added 19 points, and sophomore forward Michael Richard dropped in 14 points.
Next up is San Antonio Town East Christian, an opponent the Eagles faced three times, including twice in district play as members of the Texas Christian League and in the playoffs. Smoking For Jesus prevailed 75-61, 71-67 and 51-46.
The game is at Town East at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 9, then the Eagles welcome Austin Savio at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 10.
“I know we can put up a lot of points quickly,” Maxwell said. “In past years, we’ve been a scoring team, and we’ve had to go back and forth. We’re 80 percent of where I want us to be (defensively). Once we get there, we’ll be 100 percent hard to beat.”
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