The fourth quarter was a different story.
Rattled by a change in Hearne’s press and a raucous crowd, Salado gave up its lead one turnover at a time.
Hearne outscored the Eagles 27-8 in the fourth to stop Salado’s season with a 67-55 loss in Tuesday night’s Class 2A boys basketball bi-district playoff game at Yoe High School’s gym.
“I thought for three quarters we did a great job of handling the pressure and it kept us in the game,” Salado coach Kenny Mann said. “But in the end, our inexperience came about. They hit a few and it (momentum) kind of shifted and we kind of lost a little bit of focus.”
Salado (13-8) managed to successfully navigate through Hearne’s zone pressure in the backcourt for the first three quarters. But when Hearne (20-8) switched to man-to-man, full-court pressure, the Eagles struggled.
“We were calm in the third quarter,” Salado guard David Rosenau said. “Then that fourth quarter rolled around . . . they got the momentum rolling and it was just a train wreck for us.”
Salado led by seven points entering the fourth, but Hearne quickly cut the deficit by switching its press. Hearne’s press not only forced 10 fourth-quarter turnovers but also held Salado without a field goal for more than four minutes.
In a matter of 4 minutes, Hearne erased its deficit and took a 48-47 lead with 4:25 remaining on a putback by Thomas Williams Jr.
Williams’ quick hands and rebounds against Salado’s zone helped spark Hearne’s 16-3 run to open the fourth. He scored five of his game-high 20 points during that 6-minute stretch. Hearne got 6-6 center Forrest Rucker involved in the fourth after he had scored just one basket in the first three quarters.
Rucker pulled down rebounds he wasn’t able to get in the first three and scored six of his 10 points in the fourth.
Salado cut what had been an eight-point deficit to six on a layup by Nick Seawood, who had a team-high 14 points. But that was as close as Salado got. Hearne hit all five of its free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
Entering the fourth, Rosenau figured that as long as Salado could get a couple baskets the Eagles would be able to sneak out of Cameron with a win.
And as well as Salado played in the first three quarters, it certainly looked like it was heading to the area round.
Salado controlled the tempo of the game for the first 24 minutes thanks to its zone defense. The zone took Rucker out of the game and limited Hearne to one shot possessions. Salado held Hearne to 16-of-58 shooting in the first three quarters, during which Salado led by as many as 11 points.
“What we worked on and we wanted to do we accomplished,” Mann said. “We took Rucker out of the game, and that is what we were hoping to do, and make them beat us outside. I’m just proud of my guys for the way they played.”
Salado’s offense slowed the game down, working the ball around the perimeter until it found an open 3-point shooter. Salado hit five 3s in the first half, including three by Jerod Lutz (11 points).
Salado will return 10 of the 12 players on its roster next season, making the Eagles poised for another playoff run. Mann said that when he entered the locker room after the game, Rosenau and fellow senior Blake Heller were telling their teammates just that.
rschneider@temple-telegram.com
