Wylie boys basketball wins District 4-5A opener, girls fall to No. 8 Lubbock-Cooper
WOODROW - The Wylie boys basketball team pushed its winning streak to four games, beating Lubbock-Cooper 53-44 in Friday's District 4-5A opener.
Avery Brekke and Mark Fakhoury provided a one-two punch for the Bulldogs, scoring 18 points each.
"We talked about treating every district game as the district championship," Wylie coach Gregg Ruffin said. "We need to play each game at that level of intensity. After tonight, three teams would be 1-0 and three teams would be 0-1. I was proud of how hard we played. It's never easy to win games on the road in district."
Wylie (13-11 overall, 1-0 district) also got the job done at the free throw line, going 30 of 37t, including 15 of 18 in the fourth quarter to put the game away.
"We did what we needed to do tonight to come away with the victory," Ruffin said. "Did a good job of attacking the rim and getting to the free throw line. … Mark came in and he played really well. He's had the hot streak lately and continued that tonight."
The Bulldogs led 11-10 after the first quarter and took a 24-18 lead into halftime. But Lubbock-Cooper (9-15, 0-1) fought back in the third quarter. The Pirates took a 31-30 lead, but Wylie answered right back to go up 36-33 entering the fourth.
Martin Marshall made the only bucket for the Bulldogs in the fourth quarter while Fakhoury was 7 of 8 from the free throw line to seal the victory.
It was their seventh win in the past eight games for the Bulldogs.
"Beginning with the Childress game, we have really started to get better defensively," Ruffin said. "Understanding where we need to be and flying around getting deflections and steals. We talk about it all the time, that our offense can come and go during the course of a game. But if your defense is there every possession, you can win games when your offense is struggling."
Wylie returns home at Tuesday to face Lubbock High, which lost 63-51 to Abilene Cooper in its district opener.
"Winning games just builds confidence and we have been able to string some together," Ruffin said. "We had one player miss the game tonight, but it's nice when we can have our team healthy and injury free."
DISTRICT 4-5A BOYS
Wylie 53, Lubbock-Cooper 44
Wylie 11 13 12 17—53
LCP 10 8 15 11—44
WYLIE (13-11, 1-0) — Derrick Evans 0 4-6 4, KJ Long 0 2-3 2, Isaiah Carrillo 0 1-2 1, Dylan Jennings 2 0-0 5, Kazion Brown 0 2-2 2, Martin Marshall 1 1-2 3, Mark Fakhoury 2 14-16 18, Avery Brekke 6 6-6 18, Harrison Heighten 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 30-37 53.
LUBBOCK-COOPER (9-15, 0-1) — Connor Grant 0 0-0 0, Landon Swofford 0 0-0 0, Amaree Garmon 2 0-0 4, Shelton Hearon 2 4-6 8, Noah Hall 5 0-0 12, Brady Watson 3 0-0 8, Brayden Tomme 0 0-0 0, Sam Marchinkowski 0 1-2 1, Cole Cleaveland 2 2-3 6, Hayden Bradley 2 0-1 4, Holton Hendrix 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 8-12 44.
3-Point Goals — Wylie 1 (Jennings 1), Lubbock-Cooper 4 (Hall 2, Watson 2). Total Fouls — Wylie 14, Lubbock-Cooper 28. Fouled Out — Lubbock-Cooper: Hearon, Marchinkowski, Cleaveland. Technical Fouls — Wylie: Marshall, Lubbock-Cooper: Cleaveland.
Lady Bulldogs no match for No. 8 LCP
At Lubbock, the Lady Pirates lived up to their No. 8 ranking in Class 5A, beating Wylie 54-33.
After the first quarter, the Lady Bulldogs 10-14, 0-3) were within arm's reach trailing by five, 13-8. But Lubbock-Cooper pushed its lead to 31-12 at halftime and eased to the victory.
Kaylan Adams led Wylie with 12 points, while Caroline Steadman added eight in the loss.
The Lady Bulldogs, who are still searching for their first district win, return home Tuesday to playLubbock High.
DISTRICT 4-5A GIRLS
No. 8 Lubbock-Cooper 54, Wylie 33
Wylie 8 4 12 9—33
LCP 13 18 14 9—54
WYLIE (10-14, 0-3) — Camri Travis 0 0-0 0, Caroline Steadman 3 0-0 8, Mycala Reed 2 0-0 4, Alexis LaCroix 1 0-0 2, Kaylan Adams 5 2-3 12, Halli Russell 0 0-0 0, Kenyah Maroney 0 0-0 0, Indiah Maroney 2 0-0 4, Aliyah Jowers 0 2-2 2, Nylah Alvarado 0 1-2 1. Totals 13 5-7 33.
LUBBOCK-COOPER (19-4, 3-0) — Catalina Cortez 6 0-0 15, Calyn Dallas 6 0-0 15, Rylee Robertson 0 0-0 0, Tori Thompson 0 0-0 0, Carisa Cortez 3 0-0 7, Majik Esquivel 0 0-0 0, Adlee Blacklock 3 2-3 9, Tiani Boyles 1 0-0 2, Bella Sipowicz 1 0-0 2, Hannah Zientek 1 2-2 4. Totals 21 4-5 54.
3-Point Goals — Wylie 2 (Steadman 2), Lubbock-Cooper 8 (Cat. Cortez 3, Dallas 3, Car. Cortez 1, Blacklock 1). Total Fouls — Wylie 8, Lubbock-Cooper 12. Fouled Out — None. Technical Fouls — None.
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Wylie boys hoops wins district opener, girls fall to Lubbock-Cooper
