UIL Boys Basketball: Flatonia holds off Port Aransas in regional semifinal

Mike Forman
·2 min read
Port Aransas head basketball coach Kris Jones claps for a penalty call during the game at Port Aransas High School on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2022.
Port Aransas head basketball coach Kris Jones claps for a penalty call during the game at Port Aransas High School on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2022.

BUDA — Flatonia expected to see some changes from Port Aransas after the two met in the Flatonia tournament in December.

Port Aransas made the adjustments, but the Bulldogs were more than ready for them.

“The first time we played them, they played a sagging man,” said Flatonia point guard Luke Law. “The film from the past couple of weeks showed they’ve been putting more pressure on the ball, so we were pretty prepared for it.”

Flatonia was able to handle the Marlins’ pressure and create enough offense to come away with a 46-43 Region IV-2A tournament semifinal win Friday night at the Johnson gym.

The Bulldogs improved to 33-4 with their second win of the season over the Marlins (28-10).

Flatonia, which is making its first regional tournament appearance since 1999, will play for its first state tournament berth when it returns to the Johnson gym at 1 p.m. Saturday to face the Stockdale-Thorndale winner.

“We know they’re a great defensive team,” said Flatonia wing Holden Kloesel. “They’re always in the lane so we prepared for it to be close and low scoring and that’s what it ended up being.”

The Bulldogs never trailed and led by as many as eight points in the fourth quarter.

But Port Aransas opened the third quarter with an 8-2 run to tie the game at 25 with 3:05 remaining.

“I expected a tight game,” said Flatonia head coach Chris Sodek. “I didn’t expect to play like we did offensively. We did not play good offensively. We didn’t play badly, but we didn’t play well offensively and their defense had a lot to do with it.”

Law handled the pressure and Flatonia found enough offense in the halfcourt to maintain the lead.

“They play really good half-court defense,” Law said. “We knew there would be a point in the year when we were going to have to play a half-court game. It happened today and we got the win.”

Kris Jones led the Marlins with 21 points, but no other Port Aransas player scored more than seven. The Marlins were limited to four 3-pointers, including two by Jones.

Kloesel scored 17 points and Jaidyn Guyton had 15 for the Bulldogs, who have the opportunity to do something no other Flatonia team has done.

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Flatonia holds off Port Aransas in regional semifinal