Wednesday, May 1, 2024
Gatesville hoops is rolling heading into the Christmas break.
The Hornets captured their first tournament title of the year at the Cameron Yoe tournament on Nov. 9 then topped Lake Belton on Nov. 12 to secure their seventh straight win and up their record to 14-2 on the season.
The Hornets are riding a seven-game winning streak since their last loss and the Broncos have been the victim three times during the streak.
Gatesville and Lake Belton met in the final game of pool play in Cameron with the Hornets getting a 50-47 win. After each team won their bracket semi-final game to reach the finals, the Hornets secured the tourney title with a 54-52 win.
Their final matchup of the season was in Gatesville, and the Hornets completed the season sweep with a 61-45 win.
Gatesville opened the Cameron tournament with a 67-33 rout of Hempstead, then gutted out a 71-69 overtime win against the Aussie Travelers, a prep basketball touring company from Australia.
The win over Hempstead was over as quickly as it started as the Hornets jumped out to a 23-0 lead and held Hempstead scoreless until the 5:12 mark of the second quarter. Ten of the 11 Hornets who were dressed out scored in the win led by West Allman’s 14.
Kase Cox and Amos Phillips each had eight rebounds in the win, while Scout Hall played his best game of the season picking up 9 points and seven rebounds in 17 minutes of action.
In their pool play win over Lake Belton, the Hornets fell behind early thanks to the Broncos hot hand from behind the arc. Lake Belton knocked down six first quarter three-pointers to take a 20-14 lead.
In the second half, the Hornets overwhelmed the Broncos defensively as they shot 1-for-22 from three-point range in the half and just 7 percent from the field in the fourth quarter. Lake Belton had a chance to tie the game in the closing seconds, but Cox completely overwhelmed Nelson Hayes, who was unable to get a shot off.
Cox was one of three Hornets in double digits in the pool play win with 13 points and he also snagged six rebounds. Charlie Winkler had 13 points including three three-pointers.
West Allman led all scorers in the game with 17 points and added nine rebounds. Allman averaged 19.2 points and eight rebounds over the five-game tournament stretch on his way to being named Tournament MVP.
Allman (25 points), Cox (22 points), and Rayshon Smith (12 points and five assists) led the charge in the win over the Aussie Travelers.
The game was tied at 60-60 heading into overtime with the Travelers scoring five quick points to take a 65-60 lead. But Gatesville quickly answered on a driving reverse layup from Smith and a three-pointer from Allman.
With the game tied at 69-69, Allman knifed through the Lane for a layup and a 71-69 lead, then Smith’s smothering defense forced an airball on the Travelers last possession.
The Hornets semi-final win over 2A No. 25 Mumford was another defensive clinic as the Hornets pressured the Tigers into 23 turnovers, forced an 0-for-10 from three-point range, and won the rebounding advantage 41-19.
Allman (13), Winkler (11), and Smith (10) all reached double figures in scoring, while Hall turned in another solid performance with eight points and six rebounds. Cox grabbed ten rebounds in the win.
In the tournament title game, the Broncos came out firing again from beyond the arc. They hit on six of 17 three-point attempts in the first half before going cold in the third thanks to the Hornets defense.
In the three matchups, the Broncos shot 87 three-pointers and connected on just 19 – a 21 percent clip. Conversely, they shot 68 two-pointers and hit on 47 percent.
Gatesville led 30-26 at the half, then forced eight Bronco turnovers in the third quarter to extend the lead to 47-37 after three quarters. But the Broncos continued to bomb away in the fourth and whittled a 51-37 Gatesville lead to 54-52 and had the ball again in the closing seconds with a chance to win or tie.
But it was Cox again who blanketed Hayes who was forced to drop the ball off to Christian Onchweri who missed a desperation three-point attempt to give Gatesville the championship.
Allman finished the championship game with 27 points, 13 rebounds, and five steals. For his performance in the clincher, the junior was chosen as one of the finalists for the Mr. Texas Basketball Player of the Week Award by Dave Campbell’s Texas Basketball.
Cox and Smith were each named to the All-Tournament team as they helped lift Gatesville to their third tournament championship over the last two seasons. Last season, the Hornets won two championships and finished second in another. This year’s squad finished third in Salado before winning the Cameron Tournament.
In the 61-45 November 12 win over Lake Belton, the Hornets had four players in double figures including Allman (14), Smith (13 and five assists), Winkler (11 and 9 rebounds), and Amos Phillips who had a monster night with ten points and 12 rebounds.
Since the beginning of last year, the Hornets are 42-10 with just five losses outside of district play or the postseason. They hosted McGregor on Nov. 15 and will welcome Llano on Nov. 18 before breaking for Christmas.
