Sizzling SW boys win again but girls lose to start district
After the Sweetwater girls tipped off District 5-4A play here Friday, the boys ended non-district play vs. Jayton with a 51-38 win.
The Mustangs (17-6) will start 5-4A action when they travel to Levelland for their next game this Friday, and go in with an 11-game winning streak.
Sweetwater has an open date on Tuesday. Its last defeat in basketball was at the Graham tournament, which was held Dec. 8-10.
The last three teams that Sweetwater has beaten were held to under 40 points — Wichita Falls (4539), Monahans (48-31) and Jayton.
Jayton, ranked No. 2 in Class 1A, left Sweetwater Friday with its first loss of the season after 20 wins to start its 2022-23 campaign.
Jayton led Sweetwater in the first quarter 5-3, and again at 9-6, before the Mustangs tied it on a 3 by Stason Hernandez to end the period. The teams traded five leads in the second quarter, ending at the 2:31 mark when Korda Moore drained a 3-pointer to give Sweetwater a permanent advantage, and a fourth 3 by Hernandez followed as the Mustangs led 24-21 at intermission.
Sweetwater then started the third quarter on a 13-0 run to take control, and the Mustangs led by as much as 17 and never less than 10 points the rest of the game.
The Jaybirds’ last lead was 19-18 with under three minutes left in the first half.
Hernandez had 18 points to lead all scorers, all of it on six 3-pointers with at least one in all four periods. Malik Brown had 15 points for the Mustangs, who connected on eight 3s in all.
The defense, meanwhile, held Jayton to 13 or fewer points in all four quarters.
Estacado girls 61,
Sweetwater 19
Lubbock Estacado led Sweetwater just 8-7 after one period in their 5-4A opener, but held Sweetwater to just 12 points after that.
Sweetwater finished with just four field goals, three by Toreyna Saddler. The Lady Mustangs (10-12) also got a field goal by Lauren Biera in the fourth quarter.
The deficit widened from just two points to 12 after an 11-1 Estacado run to end the first half, increasing its lead from 14-12 to 25-13, and the only third quarter points by the Lady Mustangs came with 1:49 left on a basket by Saddler, who finished with a team-high six points.
Sweetwater was 11-of-17 on free throws the first half but 0-for-2 after that.