Defensive pressure made a difference Tuesday night as Industrial defeated visiting Edna, 65-57, in a key District 25-3A boys matchup.
Senior Jake Alexander scored 29 points, including four three-pointers, to lead all scorers and teammate Gi’Ziah Lopez added 19 for the Cobras’ first win over Edna in more than three years.
“Jake carried us early,” Industrial Coach Andrey Vanduren said. “He was able to hit a buzzer 3 at halftime to take a lead in (to the locker room) and we never looked back. It was a great team win, and the energy in the building was awesome.”
Edna built a 16-12 lead in the first quarter and looked to be headed into halftime with 31-30 advantage when Alexander hit his shot to boost the Cobras in front, 33-31. The game remained tight until the fourth quarter, when Industrial closed to game with a 16-9 fourth quarter push.
Junior Kalub Caesar led Edna with 20 points and senior Braylen Harris added 15.
The Cowboys outscored Industrial at the foul line, hitting 24 of 34 free throws to the Cobras’ 13 of 16, and won the turnover battle with only 12 turnovers to the Cobras’ 20, while Industrial outrebounded Edna by four.
“You win two of the three big categories, you expect to win the game,” Edna Coach Sheldon Moor said. “We got beat by eight. You look back and we just shot the ball terribly. We didn’t turn the ball over a lot. We just didn’t get anything out of what we were doing on that end of the court because of shooting percentage.
“Hats off to Industrial. They kept fighting and stayed in the game a couple of times when it looked like we might be able to pull away.”
On Friday, though, both Industrial and Edna lost district games on the road.
The Cobras lost to Palacios, 57-50, despite Alexander’s 22 points, nearly all of which came in the fourth quarter on four three-pointers and 5-of-6 free throw shooting.
Foul trouble slowed the Industrial offense to a crawl as Alexander sat out half of the second quarter, and third quarter turnovers led to easy baskets for the Sharks, Vanduren said.
“We lost our poise and live ball turnovers led to easy baskets,” Vanduren said. “They double-teamed Jake, and our shots just would not fall.”
Trailing by 23 to start the fourth quarter, the Cobras turned to their defense and finally found their stride, but too late.
Likewise, Edna sputtered at Columbus, falling 77-63 as Arizona State football signee Grayson Rigdon delivered 37 points for the Cardinals.
Between players out with the flu and freshman point guard Jayfus Smith missing his second straight game with an ankle injury, the Cowboys played short-handed and tried utilizing a zone defense for the first time this season, Moor said.
“We didn’t play bad,” Moor said. “We just only had seven players for the game. We tried to go zone for the first half, and we just hadn’t done it in a game and left some shooters open.”
If Edna defeats Tidehaven Tuesday, the Cowboys are in the playoffs. If the Cowboys lose and Industrial defeats Columbus, they will have a play-in game since the teams split their two district games.
Ganado Indians
The Ganado Indians (87, 6-5) buried Louise, 8727, Friday night to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Joe Rodriguez and Callen Hajovsky each scored 20 points, Cain Hayden scored 16, Luke Bures scored 14, Bryce Ullman and Luke Reid had six points each, and Vince Sablatura added four points in the Ganado win.
The Tribe must beat Weimar on Tuesday to get fourth place and make the playoffs. Ganado has beaten Schulenburg in both meetings this season, holding the tiebreaker over them.
District 25-3A Scores and Standings In addition to the Edna- Industrial game, Tuesday’s other 25-3A games included Columbus 69, Yoakum 67; Hallettsville 56, Palacios 36; and Rice Consolidated 60, Tidehaven 39. On Friday, Rice beat Hallettsville, 51-46; Palacios beat Industrial, 57-50; Yoakum beat Tidehaven, 49-39; and Columbus beat Edna, 77-63.
After Friday’s games, according to MaxPreps, Rice Consolidated (21-7) and Columbus (11-2) were tied for the district lead at 11-2, followed by Yoakum (18-9) at 10-3, Edna (9-8) at 6-6, Industrial (20-14) at 6-7, Hallettsville (9-22) at 4-9, Palacios (12-22) at 2-11, and Tidehaven (112) at 1-11.
The district wraps up this week with Hallettsville at Yoakum; Tidehaven at Edna; Columbus at Industrial; and Palacios at Rice Consolidated. All are Tuesday games.
District 28-2A Scores and Standings On Tuesday, Flatonia beat Ganado, 49-42; Weimar beat Louise, 75-16; and Shiner beat Schulenburg, 60-33. On Friday, Ganado beat Louise, 87-27; Schulenburg beat Flatonia, 57-51; and Shiner beat Bloomington, 71-42.
After Friday’s games, according to MaxPreps, Shiner leads the district at 9-3, followed by Flatonia and Weimar at 8-3, Ganado and Schulenburg at 6-5, Bloomington at 1-9, and Louise at 0-10. If Ganado defeated Louise, that would have put the Tribe in a tie with Schulenburg for fourth place.
Tuesday’s games wrap up the district season and include Ganado at Weimar; Bloomington at Flatonia; Schulenburg at Louise; and Shiner at Long Creek.
Boys Rankings (as of Feb. 9) TABC Class 3A: none; Class 2A: none MaxPreps Class 3A: none; Class 2A: none
