The stakes were raised when the 12th-ranked Temple Wildcats and Copperas Cove Bulldogs met for their District 13-5A opener Friday night. And both teams rose to the occasion. Matching the scrappy Bulldogs' intense effort with a gritty stand of their own, it was the Wildcats that came up with the big plays down the stretch to pull out a thrilling 59-57 victory at Wildcat Gym. Post Matt Williams poured in 29 points for Temple (19-3, 1-0 in district), including a slashing lay-up with 5.4 seconds remaining in the contest to break a 57-57 tie. The play capped a closing 12-4 Temple run that erased a six-point deficit over the final 2:59. Wildcats point guard David President scored eight points over that span and forward Quinton White drew a key offensive foul on Cove's Travis Boyce with 55.1 seconds remaining to help keep the Bulldogs (18-6, 0-1) at bay. by Tom Day