With eight seconds left in a tie game, fans watch in anticipation as Coppell junior guard Alex Tung dribbles down the court.

Tung shoots. 

The ball bounces off the rim before hitting the backboard and into the basket. The team rushes onto the court to celebrate, their whoops and hollers echoing throughout CHS Arena. Tung’s score as time expired gave Coppell a 59-57 thrilling victory over Prosper on Tuesday. 

“It’s a special feeling,” Tung said. “It feels great to get a big team win at home.” 

Coppell junior forward Arhan Lapsiwala led scoring with 23 points, followed by Tung with 18 points. With 17 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Lapsiwala hit a 3-pointer that tied the game, 57-57.  

“They stepped up and played like the leaders that are on our team,” Coppell coach Clint Schnell said. “They’re juniors but they’re coming into their second year on varsity. They’ve been through the fire of what varsity is like. It’s no shock to me that both of them stepped up tonight and put us in a position to win the game.” 

After leading the first quarter, 12-10, Coppell fell behind as Prosper senior guards Brandt and Parker Evanson were able to score nine and five points, respectively. Coppell trailed at the half, 29-20. 

“We came out of the first quarter playing really well and obviously had the two point lead,” Schnell said. “In the last two minutes of the second quarter our intensity dropped a little bit, credit to [Prosper] for making plays and moving the ball up the floor. We just didn’t get matched up and cut some guys loose for open shots and they hit them and pushed the lead up before halftime.” 

In the second half, Coppell displayed defensive and offensive intensity, having four offensive rebounds and keeping a close score with Prosper. 

“Compared to our first game on Saturday, I think they did a much better job of being on point with decision making, being in the right spot and being active defensively and offensively,” Schnell said. “The biggest thing I think was the difference between our first game and this game was that they’re just more comfortable playing at the varsity level. I’ve got a lot of new guys on varsity. Tonight, I think some of the jitters and nervousness are out of their system, and they were able to come out here and play.” 

According to Schnell, the Cowboys will continue to work on their consistency. 

“We played a great first quarter,” Schnell said. “We led up late in the second quarter, played a great third quarter, got back in the game and kind of led up at the end. We got to stop the ebbs and flows. We got to be more consistent throughout the game and not put ourselves in situations where we got to keep coming from behind to get in the game.” 

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