Then, the reality of the high-powered Waco La Vega offense kicked in and forced the Yoemen into a quick exit from the postseason.
Earl Stinnett pumped in 19 points and Danzel Wilson and Michael Bigelow combined for 22 to pace the Pirates to a 56-34 victory over the Yoemen in a Class 3A boys basketball bi-district game at Tiger Gym.
La Vega (22-10) will play Crockett in the area round later this week.
Yoe closed its season with a fifth straight loss for a 13-18 campaign. Earlier at Tiger Gym, Waco Connally defeated Liberty Hill 56-53 to give District 17-3A a sweep of 18-3A in the doubleheader.
“We knew it would be tough,” Yoe coach Tommy Brashear said. “The kids may have come into the game thinking, ‘We’re lucky to be here.’ I wish we had come in on a winning streak, but this was a great bunch of kids.”
La Vega defeated Yoe 72-57 earlier in the season.
For a quarter, the Yoemen were with the Pirates toe-to-toe, running off seven straight points on a 3-point shot from Devin Hemphill and buckets by Dominique Jefferson and Desmond Williams to grab an early lead.
A pair of jumpers by Phillip Nickerson put the Yoemen ahead 11-9 before La Vega’s Korey Moore hit a long 2-pointer before the buzzer to make it an 11-11 game through 8 minutes.
The next 8 minutes set the Pirates in motion to cruise to victory. The Yoemen went scoreless for 5 minutes and wound up with just five points in the second quarter while seeing La Vega transition its way to a 27-16 halftime lead.
“We just tried to put more pressure on the ball,” La Vega coach Clay Cody said. “We wanted to get some turnovers and get to the basket in transition. We wanted to play a faster game.”
Bigelow and Wilson each had six points in the quarter and Stinnett hit one of his three 3-pointers to put the Pirates in command.
Yoe went scoreless for the first four minutes of the second half, allowing the Pirates to gain even more traction on the lead. La Vega outscored the Yoemen 16-9 in that frame to take a 43-25 advantage into the fourth.
“Defensively, I thought we played well enough to give ourselves a chance to win,” Brashear said. “Offensively, we had too many turnovers and we were outrebounded and that usually means you’re going to end up with a loss.”
Hemphill led the Yoemen with nine points, followed by Matthus Lopez with seven. Wilson and Bigelow each chipped in 11 for the Pirates.
The Yoemen lose just four seniors from their roster and have high hopes for the future.
“We had an up-and-down season and unfortunately we ended on a down,” Brashear said. “I don’t think too many people thought we would get here. It was a positive season for us.”
twaits@temple-telegram.com
