Lions play hard in Kerrville Christmas Classic

By Teri Reed
POST-REGISTER

The Lockhart Lions traveled to Kerrville Tivy High School, who hosted the Christmas Classic tournament, Dec. 27-28, for a tough pool of competition. Teams from San Angelo Lake View, San Antonio Burbank, Laredo Alexander, Dripping Springs, San Angelo Central, Austin Crockett, Kerrville Tivy and our Lockhart Lions were matched up on the

court.

The Lions first game Monday morning was against the hosting team. The Tivy Antlers took the first victory with a close score of 57-52.

“We were impressed that Tivy wanted to play us in the first round since that game is always the toughest,” said Head Coach Tony Knight. “It motivated us to play well, but we couldn”t pull the victory out in the fourth.”

Lockhart”s senior guard Jacob Alvarez was the high scorer for the game with 13 points. Black added 11 points to the scoreboard. Junior point guard Morgan Joseph and senior forward Jonathan Sanders each added six points.

Defensively, the Lions tried to keep the Antlers at bay. Sanders made four steals to put the ball back in the Lions” hands. Senior center Michael Spears grabbed six rebounds and senior point guard Garrett Shafer contributed with four assists.

The second game for the Lions was later Monday evening against the Crockett Cougars. It was a disappointing day for the Lions after losing 70-57 against the Cougars.

Alvarez was the high scorer again with 19 points. Junior forward Mark Black contributed 16 points and seven rebounds. Shafer made 15 points including 3 three-pointers and completed five assists. Sanders also completed 4 assists and grabbed nine rebounds.

Lockhart finished Pool 1 play of the tournament with a 0-2 record.
The Lions started their second day off well with a 71-53 victory against San Angelo Lake View.

Contributing to their victory was Black with 20 points including eight out of nine free throws, Alvarez with 12 points and Shafer with 10 points. During the second quarter, senior guard Zach Hill came off the bench to score three consecutive three-pointers.

In the Lions last game, they were faced up against Laredo Alexander. The final score, 73-66, was a disappointment for the Lions after being outscored in the fourth quarter 31-26.

“The game was up-tempo and fast with the high scoring last quarter,” Knight said. “They (Laredo Alexander) were our toughest competition in the tournament. We elevated our game to match their skills.”

Adding points to the scoreboard were high scorer Sanders with 18 points, Alvarez with 16 points and Shafer with 14 points.

“Jonathan Sanders did an excellent job grabbing the defensive rebounds against Laredo,” Knight said.

The Christmas Classic tournament named Sanders to the “All Tournament” team along with four other individuals from other opposing teams.
Next, the Lockhart Lions will face the ranked Del Valle Cardinals to start the new year. They will travel to Austin on Jan. 4 for games at 5:30, 6:30 and 7:30.

terireed@post-register.com