Senior Braylen Harris, junior Kalub Caesar, and freshman Jayfus Smith combined for 49 points Friday night as the Edna Cowboys defeated Industrial, 63-55 in overtime.
The win lifted Edna to a tie with Rice Consolidated for the District 25-3A lead at 4-1, while Industrial slipped to 2-3 and into a tie for fifth place with Hallettsville.
As usual when the two neighboring schools play, it was a tightly contested game in front of a full, noisy gym.
“It’s a special thing any time we play Industrial,” Edna Coach Sheldon Moor said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s dominos, 42, tiddlywinks, basketball or football. The crowd’s going to show up. It’s a great atmosphere and a good game played by both teams.
“Throw the records out, throw everything out, and put boxing gloves on because you better be ready for a fight.”
The teams slugged it out on the court with a physical, defensive game. Industrial was whistled for 24 fouls, Edna for 19, but no one fouled out. Industrial made 11 of 19 free throws, while Edna sank 16 of 32.
The Cobras jumped out to an early lead, but Edna settled in, hitting some shots and getting a few stops to stay within a point to start the second quarter.
Smith drove to the basket and scored to put Edna in front, 12-11, early in the second quarter, but the Cobras reeled off eight unanswered points.
Gi’Ziah Lopez grabbed an offensive rebound and laid it in to put Industrial back up, 13-12, then Braedyn Vanduren, John Franz and Lopez added buckets to expand the Cobras’ lead to 19-12 with 1:56 remaining in the quarter. Caesar sank a free throw and Harris scored inside to close the lead to 19-15, but a technical foul against the Cowboys became a four-point play as Jake Alexander buried both technical free throws and Trevan Koenig scored on a little scoop shot as Industrial went on to build a 24-17 halftime lead.
The Cobras continued to frustrate Edna on offense through the third quarter and seemed likely to snap the Cowboys’ home court district win streak until the Edna press finally began to generate a few turnovers late in the game.
“When we get the trap, the press works,” Moor said. “When we don’t get the trap, we’re hung out to dry. We’ve been struggling on that, and it really came together for us there at the end of the third quarter.
“It played a pretty big role there late in the game. That was good to see that finally come together and get some turnovers on the run going the other way.”
What had been a 37-29 Industrial lead early in the fourth quarter evaporated as turnovers off the fullcourt press led to layups, a big three-point shot from Miles Randle, and a sudden confidence boost for the Cowboys.
When Smith hit a little spinning shot in the lane with 2:03 left, the Cowboys led 43-41.
The Cobras weren’t done, though.
Alexander hit a free throw and Vanduren laid in a missed shot, Holden McMullen and Lopez hit big shots in the paint as the Cobras tied the game at 48-48 with eight seconds to play. A last-second heave from Smith near midcourt just missed, sending the game to overtime.
But the extra five minutes belonged mainly to Edna.
The Cowboys continued to pressure Industrial, and fouls mounted, sending Edna players to the free throw line. Harris sank six free throws in overtime as the Cowboys sealed the win.
“We were having trouble trying to manufacture points the whole game and I just kept telling them to stick with the defense,” Moor said. “We’ve got to take the ball out of the air, but to do that we have to get a trap to make a bad pass. We just kept sticking with it and grinding away and kept our nose to the grindstone and got it done there late.”
It was a disappointing loss for Industrial.
“I thought our kids played very hard in a tough environment,” Cobra Coach Andrey Vanduren said. “I’m so proud of them. We controlled the game for 3 ½ quarters. I thought a couple of calls didn’t go our way, and the guys never blinked an eye.
“Moving forward, we can’t let teams get 35 free throw attempts. We will learn from this game to be able to finish games, at home or on the road, in a very competitive District 25-3A.”
The teams meet again at Industrial on Feb. 4.
On Tuesday, Industrial defeated Hallettsville, 3023, in a defensive struggle, while Edna lost at Yoakum, 48-42.
Ganado Indians
The Indians dropped a pair of District 28-2A games last week, losing at home Tuesday to Shiner, 52-38, and falling at Flatonia on Friday, 55-40. No other details were available.
District 25-3A Standings and Scores (as of Jan. 12)
The Edna Cowboys and Rice Consolidated are tied for first place at 4-1, followed by Yoakum and Columbus at 3-1, Industrial and Hallettsville at 2-3, Palacios at 1-4, and Tidehaven at 0-5. On Tue., Jan. 7, Yoakum beat Edna, 48-42; Rice Consolidated beat Columbus, 78-62; Industrial beat Hallettsville, 30-23; and Palacios beat Tidehaven, 47-31. On Fri., Jan. 10, Edna beat Industrial, 63-55 in overtime; Hallettsville beat Palacios, 54-40; and Rice Consolidated beat Tidehaven, 63-55. No score was reported to MaxPreps from the Yoakum-Columbus game.
This week’s Tuesday games included Tidehaven (0-5) at Yoakum (9-6), Hallettsville (7-16) at Rice Consolidated (14-6), Palacios (11-15) at Industrial (16-10), and Columbus (31) at Edna (7-3). Friday’s matchups include Industrial at Columbus, Rice Consolidated at Palacios, Hallettsville at Yoakum, and Edna at Tidehaven.
District 28-2A Standings and Scores (as of Jan. 12)
According to MaxPreps, the Shiner Comanches led the boys’ district standings at 4-1, followed by Flatonia at 3-1, Schulenburg at 2-1, Weimar at 3-2, Ganado at 2-2, Bloomington at 1-3, and Louise at 0-4.
On Tue., Jan. 7, Shiner defeated Ganado, 52-38; Schulenburg beat Bloomington, 54-41; and Flatonia beat Weimar, 51-40. On Fri., Jan. 10, Flatonia beat Ganado, 55-40; Weimar beat Louise, 65-17; and Schulenburg beat Shiner, 53-33.
In this week’s Tuesday games, Weimar (11-8) hosted Burton (9-9), Flatonia (11-11) hosted Schulenburg (7-7), Louise (0-16) hosted Ganado (4-4), and Shiner (5-3) hosted Bloomington (2-14). Friday’s slate of games includes Flatonia at Bloomington, Louise at Schulenburg, Falls City at Shiner, and Weimar at Ganado.
Area Boys in the Top 25 (as of Jan. 12)
TABC Class 3A: Columbus (3-0) No. 9; Edna (5-2) No. 23; Class 2A: none.
MaxPreps Class 3A: none; Class 2A: none.
