Bulldogs boys’ basketball opens with loss

The Bandera High School Boys’ Varsity Basketball Team opened its season with a Nov. 16 trip to Uvalde High School for an afternoon contest against the Coyotes and fell to Uvalde 79-46. Officials said Bandera went into the matchup young and inexperienced at the varsity level, with only one returning member from last year’s team in junior Lukas Jackson, who lead all Bandera scorers with 18 points.

A majority of the varsity team also was part of the football team’s playoff run, so Bandera’s roster for the Nov. 16 game consisted of a couple of freshmen, sophomores and juniors filling the void against a very well-coached and experienced Uvalde team.

Officials said the Bulldogs started off slow and fell behind early, as a result of turnovers and defensive errors.

It was a deficit that the Bulldogs could not be overcome.

Still, there were a few bright spots and positive plays from the Bulldogs, who played hard the entire game.

They were able to get into a rhythm offensively and played much better defense in the fourth quarter, ending the game on a high note, officials said.

Many of the team members had never played a minute of varsity basketball, and they competed for all 32 minutes of the game, gaining valuable experience that should help them through the remainder of the year.

Bandera Coach Carl D. Lee said on a Twitter feed about the performances of the Bulldog teams that he was proud of the effort he’s seen from the ninth grade, junior varsity and varsity basketball teams.

“It’s a work in progress, but I believe we’re heading in the right direction,” he said.

The Bulldog varsity, JV and freshmen basketball teams played at Medina Valley High School on Friday, Nov. 22, but the results of those games were not available before the Thanksgiving break.