The Brownwood Lions chalked up their third win in a row, improved to 6-0 in games played in Brownwood, and moved over the .500 mark for the first time with a 57-46 victory over the Class 5A Wichita Falls Rider Raiders Tuesday at the Brownwood Coliseum.
“We played a lot better than we looked in practice yesterday, that’s for sure,” said Lions fifth-year head coach Nadir Dalleh who returned to the sidelines after being hospitalized last week with pneumonia. “Having five days off, that’s a good win against a good 5A team. We came in and shot the ball well to start with and we made smart plays. That’s the stuff we have to do in a couple of weeks when we start district.”
Christian Kinzler led the Lions (7-6) with 15 points followed by Bryson Monroe with 14, Jakob Hataway with 13, Zach Porter and Luke Moss with six apiece and Michael Felts with three points.
Rider (4-11) received 18 points from Parker Newsum, 10 from Keitenn Bristow, eight from Landen Henry, six from Dylan Fettkether, and four points from Braeden Arias.
The Lions trailed 14-12 after one quarter and faced an 18-12 deficit with 7:29 left in the first half. Brownwood answered with 18 of the final 22 points of the second quarter to build a 30-22 halftime edge.
“We just executed well,” Dalleh said of the surge to close the first half. “We got comfortable and found the open spots and were making our shots. That’s huge. We also weren’t giving up second-chance points. That’s what got them back into it is we didn’t rebound well for a little while. When you make your shots, it’s easy to get up a little bit.”
The Lions pulled even at 18 on a bucket by Kinzler at 5:13 of the second quarter, and again at 20 on a deuce by Hataway with 4:39 to go. Hataway then put Brownwood in front for good, 22-20, as he scored off a steal, which triggered nine straight Lions points and a 27-20 lead with 37 seconds left in the half.
Brownwood pushed its lead to double figures, 34-24, at 5:55 of third quarter on a bucket by Hataway. The advantage peaked at 14 points twice in the frame – the last coming on two Monroe free throws with 23 seconds left in the period.
Rider notched the first five points of the fourth quarter to shave Brownwood’s lead to 43-34 with 5:34 to go. The Raiders on four separate occasions trimmed the deficit to seven points down the stretch, but could get no closer.
Leading 53-46 with 57 seconds left, Brownwood tacked on the final four points – two free throws by Moss and a bucket from Porter – to secure the win.
“The defense played well,” Dalleh said. “Those guys are good, that’s a good team. When you buckle down and play defense, and we’ve shown we can do that, it’s going to be pretty tough against us and we’re going to have a good little team. If we can put everything together, no telling what can happen with us.”
The Lions’ scheduled game Wednesday against Crane has been canceled due to the threat of inclement weather. Brownwood will be back in action Tuesday, Jan. 5 at home against Granbury.
