SISD | Basketball
Although the Lions junior varsity boys suffered a defeat to Mount Vernon 37-17, varsity boys went on to outplay the rival school with a final score of 56-39. JV boys scored 2 in the first quarter to Mount Vernon’s 5, and each successive quarter put a steady 5 points on the board. However, this was not enough to match Mount Vernon’s 32 cumulative points in the last three quarters. Top scorers included Jayden Holloway with 9 points, Christian Whitworth with 3, Ridge Johnson with 3 and Jacob Sexton with 2. JV boys record is 0-5.
When varsity boys stepped in to face off against Mount Vernon, they squeaked by with a lead in the first quarter 7-6. After finding their groove, Lions varsity boys sunk 20 points to Mount Vernon’s 9 in the second quarter and 14 points against Mount Vernon’s 11 in the third to make the score 41-26. Saltillo finished the game with a 15-13 performance in the fourth, securing their early lead for the win.
Making 12 of 13 free throws, Saltillo is sinking 92% of their shots from the charity stripe. Top scorers included Andrew Redburn with 20 points, Chris Boekhorst with 12, Gunner Tarver with 9, Dillon Beadle with 9, Coy Collins with 4 and Colby McCoy with 2. Varsity boys record is 4-1.
While girls teams took on Gilmer, the outcomes were reversed. JV Lady Lions won their game 41-23 against the school, while varsity girls lost theirs 54-40. JV had a hard-fought victory: the girls pulled ahead 18-6 in the first quarter, but then Gilmer narrowed the lead to 27-18 in the second. By the third, both teams pulled in 2 points apiece to make it 29-20, yet Saltillo surged ahead in the fourth to sink 12 points against Gilmer’s 3 to end it.
“I thought we played extremely hard, especially on the defensive end,” girls head coach Coach Dalton Herndon said. “We had a slow start to the second half but really played well in the fourth quarter to finish the game. [I’m] extremely proud of our effort on both ends tonight.”
Top scorers included Mattie Goldsmith with 20 points, Ofelia Cabrera with 7, Trinity White with 4, Brianna Tawil with 4, Makensa Morris with 4 and Reagan Speir with 2. JV girls have a record of 6-1.
When varsity took on Gilmer, though, they were not so lucky. Scoring fluctuated back and forth as the girls took licks from Gilmer in the first with a 15-4 performance but narrowed the lead in the second to 21-14. The third quarter marked a good effort of 16 points by the Lady Lions, but Gilmer still outran the team with 22 points to up their lead to 43-30, and the fourth quarter finished close, but ultimately, it wasn’t enough to secure a victory for the varsity team.
“[We] played uninspired [and] shot really poor,” Head Coach Bill Giles admitted. “Hopefully Thursday we’ll start playing better ball.”
Top scorers included Chandler Bain with 13 points, Allie Lane with 9, Anna Reeder with 7, Brittney Peeples with 5, Julianna Giles with 3 and Kristina Wade with 3. This loss puts varsity girls with an 8-4 record.
The JV boys played one additional game against CHESS, in which they wiped the proverbial floor with the Christian charter school 58-8. CHESS’s only scores came in the first and last quarter with 4 apiece, while Saltillo put up 20, 15, 17 and 6 points per quarter, respectively. Making 4-of-5 free throws, the boys are shooting at 80%.
Top scorers included Colton McGill with 14 points, Ethan Resse with 9, Cristian Trejo with 9, David Whitworth with 7, Tristian Rains with 7, Caden McGill with 4, Cameron Mosely with 4, Chase Eastman with 2 and Michael Gonzalez with 2.