In a delayed Friday night game the 18-6 Coppell Boys Basketball team took on the Hebron Hawks at the CHS Arena leading to a close game and eventual loss of 61-53.

In what seemed like an ominous sign reflecting the first quarter, the tipoff was tipped out of bounds.

Senior Jaden Clemons seemed unstoppable scoring numerous points for Hebron in the first quarter but in a second quarter surge junior guard Alex Tung brought the Cowboys back with two 3-pointers, a shot for two points and a successful free throw.

In spite of the numerous fouls, the Cowboys clawed their way back from an early deficit to get the score to 34-31 in favor of Hebron by the end of the first half.

Senior Forward Alex Ninan and junior Guard Gabe Pehl proved to be crucial in the second half, closing up the deficit with Pehl tying the game with two 3-pointers by the end of the third quarter.

The Cowboys were left hoping for a last second score in the final quarter as the Hawks struck fast at the start leading to many last second shots for big points to try and scrape by with the win. 

After a night of rough and gritty basketball, the Cowboys walked away defeated.

“Inability to stop the ball, our defense and rotations were really sloppy at some point and a combination of that and us not making shots,” Ninan said. “I had one for seven, one for eight from three, I mean, people were getting in foul trouble, it was a very sloppy game that we just didn’t have.”

The Cowboys are ready to improve and are hoping to fix all the cracks in their gameplay.

“Definitely my shooting for me, but as a team, defense in particular, we got to play more collective defense, we got to talk more, we got to show more leadership in the locker room and we’ll pick it up next game,” Ninan said.

After this tough loss, all eyes are on the next game for the Cowboys as they spend the next few days training and getting ready to face Plano East.

Follow Nyah Rama (@nyah_rama) and @CHSCampusNews on Twitter.