Tigers end SW’s year with 49-40 win
CISCO — Glen Rose on Monday faced a Sweetwater team that gave the Tigers something they rarely faced in their basketball district this season — a tough battle.
But the Tigers, who were the No. 1 seed this year in District 6-4A, won 49-40 thanks to a late 8-2 run that put Sweetwater away with Glen Rose moving on to the second round.
Sweetwater, the No. 4 seed in District 5-4A, ends its basketball season 22-12.
Sweetwater led only once (12-10) near the end of the first quarter but kept the contest highly competitive, trailing just 23-20 at intermission and 41-35 with a little under three minutes left in the game, only to fall victim to the Tigers’ final rally. The Mustangs managed to cut a 14-point deficit early in the fourth period by more than half, until the Tigers pushed it back to 12 late. Stason Hernandez hit a buzzer beating 3-pointer to account for the nine-point margin to end the game.
“I was really proud of the way that our guys fought hard all game,” said coach Evan Grantham. “Defensively we showed how good we can be against a bigger, and more experienced team. We just couldn’t get the job done on offense.”
According to Grantham, two Mustangs, Hernandez (eye) and Tate Thompson (ankle), were both playing against Glen Rose in spite of a recent injury.
“Even with that, we were able to push them to the end,” he said.
Thompson, Damarrius Walker and Chris Avila are the team’s only seniors and Grantham expects another good season in 2023-24.
Korda Moore (18 points) was the Mustangs’ top scorer vs. Glen Rose. Hernandez had nine, Malik Brown six, Walker four, Jadyn Forbes two and Thompson one for Sweetwater.