SHS boys crush Steers, but girls see season halted
The final District 5-4A basketball doubleheader of the season saw the Sweetwater boys win, 58-33, on Tuesday vs. Big Spring to clinch no worse than a tie for the No. 4 playoff berth.
But the final game for the Sweetwater girls ended with a 33-27 loss to Big Spring, as the Lady Mustangs were denied a chance at a playoff spot. A win by Sweetwater would have forced another game to decide the No. 4 seed between the two teams later this week.
Sweetwater boys 58, Big Spring boys 33
After starting out district 0-4, Sweetwater (4-4) has a near-guarantee of a playoff. The Mustangs have a twogame lead over the fifthplace Steers with two games left in the regular season.
Up next is 7-1 Lubbock Estacado, the 5-4A leader, at 7:30 p.m. Friday for the last home game. Sweetwater will visit Lake View (1-7) to end its season next Tuesday and could have a shot at the No. 2 berth by winning both of its final two games.
Big Spring led, 17-15, over Sweetwater at halftime and 21-17 early the third quarter, but a 16-3 Sweetwater burst — including a 7-0 finish to the third quarter — put the Mustangs up 33-24 to begin the fourth period.
Another nine points ended the run for a 42-24 lead. A pair of two-point goals by Tate Thompson and one by Malik Brown began the period, and Stason Hernandez then hit a 3-pointer before Big Spring finally ended the decisive 16-0 Sweetwater run. Another 3, by reserve
Mann, was the final punctuation to a huge second half where the Mustangs out-scored the Steers 43-16.
Three players hit double figures, as Hernandez scored 16, Korda Moore 15 and Thompson 13. Brown had nine, Mann three and Damarrius Walker two to complete the scoring.
Big Spring girls 33, Sweetwater girls 27
The Lady Mustangs were up a point in the final quarter, but then outscored 9-2 as Big Spring (4-6) locked down the No. 4 berth.
With the loss, Sweetwater finished 2-8 in district but its 13 wins this season are an 11-game improvement over its two wins during the 2021-22 season.
Big Spring led 7-4 after one quarter but Sweetwater led 15-14 at the half, and the Lady Mustangs twice led by four points in the third period before a 5-0 run gave the Lady Steers a 21-20 lead at the start of the fourth.
Lauren Biera led Sweetwater with six points.
Three Lady Mustangs — Hanna Vera, Toreyna Saddler and Aunisti Griffin — had five and Trinity McGee, Marissa Garcia and Jenika Fuentes two. McGee and Fuentes are the only two seniors on this year’s team.