Atascocita’s loss marks the end of an era
With 11 of 13 players graduating this semester, Eagles will be in rebuilding mode in 2017
It’s hard to believe the season is over.
It’s even harder to accept the ending of an era, with 11 of the 13 players on Atascocita’s boys basketball team graduating in May.
But that’s how coach David Martinez was feeling Monday morning, only a couple days removed from the Eagles’ 7354 loss to DeSoto in the Class 6A championship game Saturday in SanAntonio.
“The majority of my team, I’ve been with for three and four years, so I’ve seen these guys every day and we’ve worked for this opportunity for four years,” he said. “When I got the job four years ago, I told the kids, ‘I didn’t come here to win a district championship. We’re going to get to state,’ and we did that.
“We just fell 32 minutes short.”
Theywere a perfect 38-0 going into the final.
The Eagles beat Sam Houston 78-67 in the semis in a matchup of two Houston-area teams that met in their season opener.
“We tried to really stay focused for that game, and we did,” Martinez said.
“But then the quick turnaround for the DeSoto game, and the game not starting until 10 p.m., really made it tough. But the bottom line is, it was two great teams playing for the state championship.
“It was a storybook type of deal, with the relationship that Coach (Chris) Dyer and I have, going back 18 years ago, but they were the better team that night.”
Martinez said DeSoto’s Eagles countered every adjustment his players made.
He didn’t notice any nerves or wide-eyed looks with his players, who perhaps couldhave been awed by DeSoto’s state tournament history, with five appearances and three championships (2003, 2009, 2016).
“I don’t think our kids were affected by that too much,” he said.
“They looked at it like, ‘We’re going to get this.’ They were mentally ready. Nothing was different. They didn’t react different. As a coach, you always try to get a feel for how the players are feeling before a game, and nothingwas different. It was all the same. So I felt good about that.”
Martinez didn’t feel good about the two early fouls Fabian White picked up.
To keep White from drawing a third foul before halftime, Martinez sat him early, then played a zone defense when he returned in the second quarter to help him in the matchup with 6-11 Marques Bolton.
But DeSoto didn’t miss in the second quarter, outscoring Atascocita 20-4.
The Atascocita Eagles shot only 27.3 percent in the first half. DeSoto’s Eagles hit 14 of 23 shots for 60.9 percent shooting.
“Weweren’t able to capitalize with some of those easy buckets we’re used to getting that help us – that give us momentum, or get us a lead or extend the lead, or whatever,” Martinez said. “Thatwas ahuge part of the game.”
Atascocita pressed its way back into the game in the third. Carsen Edwards’ 3-pointer with 2:25 showing in the quarter cut DeSoto’s advantage to seven, 43-36.
But DeSoto closed on a 7-2 run, then led by double digits throughout the fourth.
“(The press) got us back in the game, but at the same time it took a lot of energy to do that,” Martinez said. “And we missed some key opportunities in the third quarter, to really cut it to four or maybe even two, with some easy buckets.”
Now they’re cutting most of their roster – but they’re not severing ties.
Edwards signed with Purdue, Matt Willrodt is headed to Cisco College to play baseball, Greg Shead is unsigned, but Martinez expects him to play somewhere, Alan Smith inked with Texas A&M-Kingsville’s football team, and Donzae Peacock signed with the Blinn College football team.
Brandon Brooks-Loville, Stephun Morehead and Jerris Harris also are graduating.
“They’re like my kids, and I’ve seen them grow up, as teenagers into young men, and that’s part of it,” Martinez said. “We’re teaching them basketball, but we’re also teaching them about life, and there were a lot of life lessons learned the last four years.”
White and Devin Harrison are the only returning players, but Martinez said their program’s in place, and young players are buying in andworking hard.
“We’ll have a new challenge next year, but we have some pieces,” he said. “We’ve got Fabian coming back, we’ve got a couple of young guys coming back, and then we had a really good JV team that’s working really hard.
“So we’re going to keep pushing and keep pushing and try to get back to this game, and try to get us one.”