Monday, May 6, 2024
A Gatesville basketball season that appeared to be on life support less than two weeks ago is now alive and well and rolling into the postseason for the third straight year.
The Hornets put together back-to-back wins over Robinson (69-53) and China Spring (50-35) to leapfrog the Rockets and the Cougars and finish the regular season as the No. 3 seed in the final 23-4A standings.
Gatesville will play 24-4A runner-up Jarrell in the bi-district playoffs on Tuesday, Feb. 20, at 7:30 p.m. at Belton High School.
The Hornets knew a final two-game sweep was possible – even probable – but after a 64-36 loss at La Vega on Feb. 6, Brit Campbell thought his team would need to start playing like the team that won 24 games and a pair of tournament championships early in the year.
“We really just tried to get back to being together and being us,” said head coach Brit Campbell. “We haven’t been playing together, we have been frustrated, and we have been doing things that weren’t in the team’s best interest. We just tried to get our guys back and make it fun again.”
The Hornets rediscovered the fun in the wins over the Rockets and Cougars.
In the win over Robinson, Kase Cox turned in his best game of the season. The junior forward used his frenetic energy to score twenty points and grab eight rebounds. All nine of his field goals came on short jumpers or fast break layups. He also had four steals in the game.
West Allman pumped in 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds, while Rayshon Smith had 14 points in the win. Allman and Cox combined to score 30 points in the paint in the win.
Gatesville (25-10, 4-6) started the game on a 9-0 run, but then the Rockets scored the next 11 points to take an 11-9 lead. The game was tied 23-23, but Gatesville started the second half on another run.
Cox scored on a feed from Graceson Stewart for a 25-23. Then Evan McCracken buried a three-pointer for a 28-23 advantage. Stewart dropped in a layup to put Gatesville up 30-23. Then Cox picked up a steal and converted a layup for a 32-23 lead. Following a Robinson timeout, Smith drove for a layup and a 34-23 advantage, and the Rockets would never threaten again.
The Hornets played without sophomore star Charlie Winkler against Robinson but got valuable contributions in his absence. McCracken scored four points and had three assists in the win, and Stewart had six points and four rebounds. Scout Hall scored six points and had three rebounds and three assists in the win. Amos Phillips had five rebounds, two blocks, and a steal.
“Guys are just filling their roles really well. They are just doing their part,” said Campbell.
The win over Robinson set up a winner-take-all showdown with China Spring who had trounced the Hornets 61-47 on Jan. 26.
“A good team wasn’t going to get in (tonight). That’s just the bottom line. China Spring is a good basketball team that didn’t get in. If we hadn’t won, then we would be the good basketball team that didn’t get in. We just wanted to do our best to not let that happen.”
Their best was a defensive clinic where they matched the patient, methodical Cougars offense move for move and allowed just 12 first half points.
The mark of most of the Hornets, wins this season has been fast starts. In games they start fast, they typically win, and against China Spring they raced to a 14-4 lead on the back of Allman and Winkler.
Allman scored the game’s first six points on two jumpers and a putback. Then Winkler drilled a corner three-pointer for a 9-4 lead. Allman came back with two free throws and deep three-pointer to give Gatesville a 14-4 lead that they would never relinquish.
China Spring would cut into the Hornet lead at 42-33 in the fourth quarter, but free throws from Cox and Smith upped the lead to 47-33. The celebrations began after Winkler found a streaking Phillips for a layup, and then senior John Hall sealed the win with a free throw.
Allman had a game-high 16 points, while Winkler had ten. Stewart had eight points, and Phillips had six.
The Hornets are now in the playoffs for the third straight season and have won 25 games or more two seasons in a row. Since the start of the 2022-23 season, they are 53-18 with a bi-district playoff win in 2023 and four tournament championships.
The return to the playoffs is validation that Gatesville is a program not only on the rise, but also a preview of what’s ahead as they will return Allman, Cox, Winkler, Smith, Phillips, McCracken, and Logan Biggs.
“It’s big for the program to get back, especially losing those seniors last year and having the year we had last year. Then to come back and have another really good year is huge to get back into the postseason,” said Campbell.
Gatesville beat Jarrell, their first-round opponent, 44-43 in Gatesville in the second game of the season. The Hornets were without Smith, Phillips, Hall, and Biggs who were still playing football in that game.
