BRECKENRIDGE – Brownwood’s bid for a third straight boys basketball bi-district championship was foiled by the Burkburnett Bulldogs, who for the third time in the last four seasons halted the Lions’ postseason run, 77-70, Monday night.
District 6-4A third seed Brownwood (13-10) and District 5-4A runner-up Burkburnett (16-9) were knotted at 47 heading into the fourth period, where the Bulldogs tallied 30 points – with 13 coming from senior guard Keland Page, who finished with 24 points overall.
“The biggest thing is it’s on us,” said Lions fifth-year head coach Nadir Dalleh. “We were down five I think, and the best news is we could fix that stuff. But I don’t know how many shots we missed around the rim. We had every shot we wanted, so that’s on us. We were throwing uncharacteristic turnovers we haven’t done in a while. It’s just frustrating but I couldn’t more proud, there isn’t a kid on that floor that didn’t leave it all out there.”
Trailing by 18 points in the fourth period, the Brownwood Lions shaved the deficit to six but could not complete their comeback as the No. 19 Glen Rose Tigers clinched the District 6-4A boys basketball championship with a 43-35 victory Tuesday on Senior Night at Warren Gym.
Brownwood (13-9, 4-3) managed just 14 points over the first three quarters, including going scoreless in the third, but put 21 points on the board in the fourth quarter.
“That was about as a bad of a three quarters that we could play offensively,” said Lions fifth-year head coach Nadir Dalleh. “We had 14 points at the third in the our gym and that is awful. It’s not like we didn’t have shots, we had all the shots we could get.”
The Brownwood Lions reeled off their third consecutive District 6-4A victory, avenging an earlier road loss to the Stephenville Yellow Jackets with a 61-47 triumph Friday night at Warren Gym.
The victory moves Brownwood (13-8, 4-2) into sole possession of second place in the 6-4A standings, a game and a half behind No. 19 Glen Rose (21-2, 5-0) – a 60-57 winner over Lampasas Friday – which visits Warren Gym at 6:15 p.m. Tuesday in the home finale.
“This was a team win for sure,” said Lions head coach Nadir Dalleh. “Everybody was involved, there was a great crowd, and it was a fun night. The kids are playing hard, and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
Jakob Hataway (11), pictured against Lampasas, scored a team-high 17 points in Brownwood’s win at Gatesville Friday. [File photo by Derrick Stuckly]GATESVILLE – Trailing by six points at halftime, the Brownwood Lions stormed back to clinch a playoff berth with a 67-50 victory over the Gatesville Hornets Friday – the 100
th win in five seasons at Brownwood for head coach Nadir Dalleh.
The Lions (12-8, 3-2) remained in a tie for second place in the District 6-4A standings along with Lampasas (17-3, 3-2) – a 40-34 winner over Stephenville (14-7, 2-3) Friday – with three league games left on the schedule.
Brownwood trailed 15-12 after one quarter and 26-20 at halftime, but grabbed a 40-35 lead through three quarters and tacked on 27 more points in the fourth period.