Tigers run away with first-place bout
Jan. 27—After the final buzzer sounded Thursday night, the Sacred Heart boys' basketball team stood alone in first place in its district.
The Tigers took down Crowley Nazarene Christian 67-36 at home, avenging one of their two district losses.
Sacred Heart (14-10 overall, 6-2 District 2A-2) entered the night tied with Nazarene and No. 4 Fort Worth Bethesda for first in the district. The Tigers' win and Bethesda's loss to Fort Worth Christian Life Prep left Sacred Heart alone in first, pending Friday night's games.
Nazarene (16-7, 5-3) beat the Tigers 46-40 in Crowley on Jan. 6, but the Tigers didn't trail after the first quarter Thursday.
Sacred Heart senior Jackson Knabe said the Tigers didn't play well the first time they faced the Lions.
"They played a really aggressive 1-3-1 (defense), and we just didn't play well offensively against it," Knabe said. "We didn't play much our pace. This game, we played a lot more our pace. Played our brand of basketball, outran people, out-physicaled people and got the win."
Nazarene led 7-3 early in the game. The Tigers fired back with an impressive 18-2 run which extended into the second quarter.
Knabe started the run with 2 points before senior Weslee Sprouse gave the Tigers the lead with a 3-pointer. The Tigers never relinquished that lead. Sprouse hit another 3-pointer during the run, and freshman Clayton Bezner and junior Ryan Swirczynski hit triples of their own, growing the lead to 21-9.
Sacred Heart coach Brady Endres said the run was a result of the Tigers' working hard on the court.
"Their shooters, after the first quarter, were scared to shoot due to our physicality," Endres said. "We got them out of their rhythm. We had them frustrated. We did whatever we wanted to tonight."
Nazarene finally broke the run with a 3-pointer. The offense cooled off after this as the game turned choppy with several fouls and stoppages. Nevertheless, the Tigers finished the half on a 6-2 run, including a buzzer-beating layup by senior Nathan Hesse which made it 30-15 at halftime.
Sacred Heart outscored Nazarene 15-10 in the third quarter and 22-11 in the fourth, and the Lions never threatened the lead.
Knabe said the thing the Tigers did best was play defense.
"We were in their face all night," Knabe said. "They weren't getting any easy looks. Any 3s they were taking (were) five feet back. They did not make many. We were in their face. They couldn't shoot, couldn't get to the basket."
Although the Tigers have one more home game this season, Sacred Heart celebrated the seniors between the girls' and boys' games since the girls' team doesn't play at home again.
Two of those seniors, Knabe and Hesse, led the Tigers in scoring. Knabe scored 13 points, while Hesse finished with 11.
Endres said Knabe and Hesse have consistently played this well all year.
"They work hard on the defensive end, and it turns into points," Endres said. "Their offense is nothing to talk about compared to what they do on the other end of the floor. It's incredibly fun to watch these kids work."
