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The Dripping Springs boys basketball team has started their push for the playoffs with another pair of wins. They started off district with four losses but have evened the mark. This puts them two games shy of fourth place and will have to be made up during the second half. The first half standings: Boerne Champion 7-1, Alamo Heights 6-1, Hays Johnson 5-2, Veterans Memorial 4-2, DS 4-4, Kerrville Tivy 3-4, Canyon 2-6, Seguin 1-6, Lehman 0-6.
Hays Johnson, who had been one of the top teams in the area, was a 54-41 victim of this surge. The next home game was against NB Canyon who would take the Tigers to the limit before falling to DS in OT 54-50. Both of these games were fast-paced and highly aggressive. So much so it was hard to determine if it was a basketball game or the way the NFL plays pass defense on receivers, by mauling each other. Dribblers are allowed to physically hold off opponent with free hand and the defense grab and push. If called properly the teams should have had to test their bench strength to finish games.
Johnson, fast becoming a natural rivalry, was to be a good test for the Tigers upsurge. Johnson had lost their first district game and ranked in the state. Each team had their little squad of student body for support. Both teams had young personnel and the rivalry seemed to affect Johnson more because they tried to force shots from awkward positions with poor results. The game was very physical throughout.
Layne Herington opened with a three only to watch the Jaguars go on an 8-0 run. Davis Budge would narrow the gap with a three and a late three by Greyson Jones left DS trailing 9-10 after one. Maddox Bloomgren popped a basket that would give the Tigers a lead to open the second stanza and they would not relinquish it the rest of the night. Budge would stay hot with his threes and at the half it was 21-15.
Production dropped in the third which allowed Johnson to make a small run but it would fall short and DS would hold at 29-27. Bloomgren and Herington provided the artillery early to boost the lead to 42-31 before Johnson turned to the age-old strategy of fouling, designed to lose by wider margins. The Tigers converted 12-15. On the night DS hit 9-20 from two, 7-13 from three and 15-19 at the line.
In the you never know department, Canyon came to town with a 2-5 record and possibly an easy mark for the Tigers. Not so. The Cougars would battle to the very end. As usual the Tigers scored first on a Jack Williams basket but would trail after one 7-13. Canyon would pull away to 22-14 before Tigers could finish at the half 19-22.
Behind the scoring of Williams and Cade Brunson, DS drew even after three 34-34. DS would take a 42-36 lead at the 4:30 mark. Free throws and a basket brought it even at the 2.40 mark. Canyon got control of the ball and decided to hold for one shot. A strategy with low success rate. Sure enough with 20 seconds left a Cougar threw it away. However, the Tigers could not convert either. OT.
DS went up 48-42 and maintained comfortable lead thanks to free throws. Another decent shooting night. 15-29 from two, 2-10 from three, 16-28 from the line.
Vs Johnson: Herington 14, Budge 13, Bloomgren 10, Jones 5, Brunson 5, Williams, Dylan Ducharme 2.
Vs NBC: Brunson 13, Bloomgren 10, Williams 9, Herington 8, Ducharme 6, Jones 4, Isaac Rivera 4.
