If Temple and Belton hoped to find any sort of offensive consistency in Saturday night’s District 12-5A boys basketball opener at Wildcat Gym, they left sorely disappointed.
The Wildcats and Tigers clanked off a combined 58 shots and both endured painful scoring droughts.
Losing district games is something both of these schools know all too well.
But it was Temple that found just enough offense early to hold off Belton’s late charge and survive for a 48-46 win.
First-year coach Tim Thomas and the Wildcats (7-9), who had lost nine straight district home games and six straight district games overall, will certainly take this win. But there’s still much growing up left to do to compete with 12-5A’s heavy-hitters.
“We’re learning how to win,” Thomas said. “The kids still have to learn how to win in different situations. It’s a district game and district teams come to play. We just have to come out and fight and find a way to win.”
The loss sent the Tigers (6-13) to their third straight defeat and 40th in their last 41 district games.
“I think our effort tonight was great,” Belton coach John Osborn said. “I think there was a period there in the (fourth) quarter where we went at least four minutes when we got stuck on 30 and we just could not score.”
The Wildcats led for most of the first three quarters, though they were unable to put the Tigers away thanks to their own poor shooting.
Temple’s scoring droughts added up to nearly a full quarter.
The most consistent option for the Wildcats was getting the ball in the paint to forward Erik Valdez, who scored a game-high 20 points.
But too often Wildcat possessions ended with either a bad shot or miss near the basket.
That helped keep the Tigers, who missed plenty of their easy shots, in the game, trailing by six heading into the fourth.
The Tigers made 19 of their 50 attempts.
Belton, though, missed its first five shots in the fourth quarter and was held scoreless for the first 3:30.
On a night when nothing seemingly went right on offense, that was a stretch the Wildcats had to have.
“I tell the kids, ‘There’s going to be games where your offense lets you down, but if you play great defense, you’ve got a chance,’” Thomas said. “Tonight was one of those games.”
The Wildcats used a quick 5-0 run in the first 3:30 of the fourth to build an 11-point advantage. Valdez led off the run with a turnaround shot, Temple’s only field goal in the fourth quarter.
A 10-0 run by Belton, capped by a wide open 3-pointer by guard Jacob Whitman, cut the lead to 41-40 with 1:23 left.
Whitman led the Tigers with 14 points.
Temple, which has had problems making free throws in close games, made seven of its eight free throw attempts in the final minute to seal the win.
The Wildcats made 18 of their 24 free throw attempts. The Tigers attemped just four, something that certainly didn’t sit well with Osborn.
“It’s a very good stat to tell you where I don’t think this game went right,” he said. “I think we were both very physical on both sides. I just don’t see how 24-4 turns out."
Temple will hit the road to face Copperas Cove on Tuesday, when Belton will try to notch its first district win at home against Harker Heights.
rschneider@temple-telegram.com
