Following a pair of road losses to Class 5A programs earlier in the week, the Brownwood Lions returned to the win column Saturday afternoon at Warren Gym with a 64-35 triumph over the Class 2A De Leon Bearcats.
“It doesn’t matter who you play, a win’s a win and that’s what these kids needed,” said Lions head coach Nadir Dalleh, who missed the last two games due to a case of pneumonia. “De Leon’s a good team, we just played really well today. Those kids that play for De Leon, they’re going to go pretty far in the playoffs like they did last year, and that’s why we set this up. We always try to play guys that are going to compete. We need competition and we’re seeing that and learning from it.”
The Brownwood Lions rebounded from a narrow three-point loss at No. 11 China Spring Friday night with a 68-60 home victory over the Class 2A No. 16 Cisco Loboes Saturday afternoon at Warren Gym.
The Lions (4-4) led by as many as 22 points in the third period but Cisco (2-1) crept within single digits in the fourth quarter against the Brownwood reserves. The Lions’ starters were able to push the lead back to a dozen, but the Loboes hung around until the final buzzer.
“A win’s a win, but an eight-point win when we’re up 22 at one point, we’ve got to get better and we’ve got to finish games better than we did,” said Lions fifth-year head coach Nadir Dalleh. “I told the guys at halftime Cisco’s kids don’t quit and that was shown in the fourth quarter.”