Bulldogs lose to Boerne
The Bulldogs fell to the Boerne Greyhounds 39-33 last week after an exciting game on Bandera’s home court.
“I thought we did a really good job of executing our game plan, working patiently on offense and flying around on the defensive end,” said Coach Brady Keane. “There was a stretch late in the third quarter that hurt us and forced us to play from behind, but our team never gave in, and they battled from start to finish against one of the best teams in our classification.”
The Greyhounds scored first only 15 seconds into the game. Then a steal and fast break layup by senior Tyler Moore put Bandera on the scoreboard to match the Greyhounds. Gavin Ortiz put in a soft jump shot from the lane to bring the score to 4 for the Dogs to 2 for the Hounds. For every basket made, the other team answered with a corresponding score. Ryan Perez started shooting 3’s and brought the Bulldogs ahead by one. Tyler Moore made a great rebound as the Bulldogs fought off the Hounds offense. Luke Barnett turned the steam on and shot for two as well as drawing a foul shot where he added one point to the board. The first quarter was sensational and both teams excelled at strategic, deliberate play. The score rocked back and forth as each team made just enough points to put them ahead. At the end of the first quarter the Greyhounds had a one-point lead at 11 to Bandera’s 10.
Luke Barnett kept up his energetic play and Liam De Marchi drew a foul at the beginning of the second quarter. Both sides had passing problems, but the Bulldogs held the Greyhounds to just a two-point lead at the four-minute mark. The game was played at high speed by both sides, although the Bulldogs seemed to take their time to work their offensive strategy out. Kaydon Brown threw up a three from the baseline and Bandera took the lead by one point. A steal by Ryan Perez turned into another three. The Bulldogs led 17 to Boerne’s 15 at the two-minute mark in the second quarter. The crowd was substantial and both sides cheered vigorously for their team during the game. With some outstanding play by Perez, the Bulldogs went into the half leading 24 to the Greyhounds 23.
After half-time, the Bulldogs came roaring out and scored an immediate 2 points. Noah Barnett put in a soft jump shot from the lane. The Bulldogs started to suffer from sloppy passing and dropped from the lead. Tyler Moore put up a successful three, while Perez kept his three-point shooting solid. The Bulldogs held Boerne tight until the end of the quarter when Boerne scored six unanswered points against the Bulldogs. Going into the fourth quarter Bandera had 33 to Boerne’s 39.
The fourth quarter was problematic for the Bulldogs. It seemed that the enthusiasm and focus they held onto for most of the game just petered out. Tyler Moore opened the quarter with a two followed by Luke Barnett getting another basket, but by two minutes in, Boerne was ahead by two. Noah Barnett shot a great three from way downtown, but the Bulldogs still fell behind. By the end of the quarter the Bulldogs had 40 while the Greyhounds had worked to get a twelve-point lead. Liam De Marchi made an outstanding block under Boerne’s goal that literally knocked the ball out of bounds. The Bulldogs saw their lead evaporate and Boerne used this to rack up more points. The game ended with a score of Boerne at 56 to Bandera’s 45. Consistent foul shooting by the Greyhounds was one of the main factors in their win as well as their persistence and confidence on the court.
“I’m extremely proud of them for their effort, but we talked afterward about needing to take that next step to be able to finish close games like that moving forward,” said Keane. “We’re a few plays away from winning a handful of these tough games we’ve dropped, and we’re looking forward to continuing to improve to reach that point.”
Bandera played Wimberley away on Friday, January 28 and Davenport at home on Tuesday, February 1. No game scores are available at press time.
After the Boerne loss, the Bulldogs’ district record of two wins and two losses places them behind only Boerne and Wimberley in the standings.