Those wins aren’t necessarily reflected in the final outcome.
Not surprisingly, Killeen Ellison had more firepower Friday night as the Eagles came away with an 80-60 victory over Temple at Wildcat Gym to stay in the hunt for District 13-5A’s boys basketball championship.
Ellison moved to 23-6 overall and 8-2 in district to remain in second place, two games behind unbeaten Bryan. Temple is 9-19, 1-8.
Although a win by the Wildcats figured to be tough to come by, they didn’t let the game completely get away from them.
Down 45-23 at halftime, the Wildcats came out of the second-half gate strong and outscored the Eagles 22-14 to get back within 14. The Wildcats wound up winning the second half 37-35.
“We did a good job in the third quarter,” Temple coach Bruce Etheridge said. “That was something good to see. We’re not losing energy, we’re gaining energy.”
The Wildcats erupted for four 3-point shots in the third frame and finished with six. Sophomore guard Bron Etheridge, who led all scorers with 17 points, hit two of his three 3s in the third, including one just before quarter’s end. Lache Seastrunk and D.J. Wright also each got a long ball to go down.
Still, Ellison’s size and experience proved to be too much for the Wildcats as the Eagles regained the momentum in the fourth to close it out with a comfortable win.
Ellison enjoyed a balanced scoring attack, with Ivan Delgado getting 12 of his 15 points in the second half. Chris Harpe was a force inside with 13, Zack Mims got 10 of his 12 in the first quarter and Louis Crane added 11.
Temple’s Eric Valdez had an eight-point fourth quarter to finish with 16. Seastrunk contributed 11 points.
“Eric played extremely well on offense,” Bruce Etheridge said. “He was looking for his shot and hitting it. I thought he got banged around some but played through it.
“We’re still competing,” he added. “Sometimes we’re getting tricked with back-door plays. But that will come with game experience. We’re inconsistent on defensive penetration. We’re not doing a good job of stepping in there and getting to them.”
Ellison’s solid shooting was difficult for the Wildcats to overcome. The Eagles were good for 53 percent from the field. Both teams took 58 shots, with the Eagles hitting on 31 and the Wildcats connecting on 24.
The Eagles pulled to an 18-13 lead through the first quarter before dominating the second quarter to grab a 22-point halftime lead.
Temple has three games remaining on its schedule and will travel to Bryan on Tuesday.
“We’re looking forward to those last three games,” Bruce Etheridge said. “Hopefully, we can steal one.”
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