Twice in the final 10 seconds Belton had a chance to send its boys basketball game against Cedar Park Vista Ridge on Monday afternoon into overtime. And twice the Tigers’ 3-pointers clanked off, like nearly every other shot they tossed at the basket in their 41-38 loss.
One of the Tigers’ best defensive games of the season nearly saved them, but Belton simply couldn’t overcome ice-cold shooting throughout.
“Anytime you hold somebody to 41 points, you would expect to win a basketball game,” Belton coach John Osborn said. “We just couldn’t score.”
Belton (6-11) shot a woeful 25 percent (15-of-60) from the field, including a 0-of-20 mark from behind the 3-point line, yet managed to keep the game close into the final minute.
Junior Eric Braeuer, who scored all of his team-high nine points in the second half, took Belton’s final two 3-pointers with less than a minute remaining.
Both bounced off the rim, including the final guarded attempt just before the buzzer.
“I thought we had every shot opportunity we needed . . . we just didn’t put the ball in the hole,” Osborn said. “I told them in the locker room, ‘If you step up and make some of those shots, we win by 15 to 20.’”
Instead, the Tigers had to fight and claw on defense just to keep the game close.
The Rangers had success forcing the ball into paint to their trio of forwards - Joey Faglie, Jason Anderson and Cedric Hudson. Those three scored a combined 29 of Vista Ridge’s 41 points.
But the considerably smaller Tigers held their own on the glass, giving up few second-chance points and just six offensive rebounds.
The Rangers’ 41 points were the third-lowest allowed this season. The Tigers’ best defensive output came in a 53-34 win over Fredericksburg earlier this month.
“I really thought, defensively, that we did a good job,” Osborn said. “We got a lot of steals, got them to turn it over and get them to take a lot of shots they didn’t want to shoot.”
Belton forced 15 turnovers, including five in the fourth quarter that helped the Tigers pull within one with just over a minute to play.
Vista Ridge also kept Belton in the game by shooting 41 percent from the free-throw line, including a 4-of-8 mark in the fourth quarter.
The Tigers, though, never were able to take full advantage.
“I thought our effort was good, our defense was good,” Osborn said. “Everything about the game was good; it just didn’t seem good because we couldn’t put the ball in the hole.”
Belton closes non-district play Tuesday afternoon at Georgetown. The Tigers will open their District 12-5A schedule on Saturday, Jan. 3 at Temple.
rschneider@temple-telegram.com
