With district play started, the Mustangs are now 2-0 in District 27-3A. It is a tough district with Lytle, Jourdanton, Poth, Poteet, Dilley, Karnes City, and Cotulla. Natalia faced Poteet on December 29th and Karnes City on January 1st. As of Tuesday morning, only Natalia and Poth are 2-0 in the district.
“In their first district game against Poteet, the Mustangs played well in the first half, with their defense stopping the Aggie drive to lead 34-19. But in the second half, the Aggies out shot the Mustangs to nearly take the win. The game was tight at the end “but the Mustangs were able to hang on as they hit some key free throws down the stretch to secure a 59-55 win to start off district play. I was proud of the way we played at times but we were very fortunate to come away with a win against a really good Poteet team. We have to be better at finishing games and playing from ahead. We got a little too comfortable in the 2nd half and that gave Poteet an opportunity to come back,” said Coach Justin Welsh.
David Silva 2 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 7 steals, 1 block. Enrique DeOsio 5 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals. Coltin Richardson 24 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals. Jared Stallworth 6 points, 3 rebounds, 3 steals. Joshua San Miguel 2 points, 1 rebound 4 steals. Oscar Torres 1 rebound, 1 assist. Fabian Ruiz 20 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assists. Q1 14-10, Q2 34-19, Q3 44-34, Q4 59-55. FTP 67%.
“Taking the early lead against Karnes City was key to the Mustangs 51-43 win. The Badgers bit back in the second quarter to tie the game up at 28-28. “The Badgers jumped out to an early lead in the 3rd quarter going up by a score of 35-32 before Coltin Richardson knocked down a big 3 to tie the game at 35. With the game tied at 35, Enrique Deosio was fouled on a 3 point attempt as the 3rd quarter buzzer sounded and calmly knocked down all 3 free throws to give the Mustangs a 3 point lead heading into the 4th quarter. The Mustangs continued to play well as they took a 14 point lead with about 3 minutes left in the 4th quarter. The Badgers continued to fight but they Mustangs were able to hold on for a 51-43 victory to pick up their second win in district play to improve to 2-0,” said Coach Welsh.
Silva 2 points. DeOsio 15 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals. Richardson 11 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, Stallworth 9 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals, 1 block. San Miguel 2 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 1 block. Ruiz 12 points, 6 rebounds, 1 block.
“I was proud of the guys for the way they responded after falling behind in the 3rd quarter. We’ve shown at times that we can play really well, then other times we get out of character. We have to be better at playing well for 32 minutes if we want to continue to win games,” said Coach Welsh.
The Mustangs will face Dilley on Jan. 8th, in Cotulla Jan. 12th, in Jourdanton Jan. 15th. The faced Poth last night to see who would be undefeated in district.
By Dicy Chambers
Sports Writer