It is halftime, with Plano West holding a three-point lead. The Coppell boys’ basketball team could easily change this. The Wolves have been playing good: Strong offense, and good teamwork. The Cowboys were not far behind either in those areas.

Yet when halftime ended, the Cowboys were not properly defending against the Wolves, and leaving open spaces to allow Plano West to get the upper hand. 

Plano West defeated Coppell, 80-69, on Tuesday at CHS Arena. 

Going into the second half, Coppell had switched up its tactics, trying to combat the Wolves offense. However, it proved to be ineffective.

Coppell senior Gabe Pehl had many different thoughts on why the team couldn’t seem to get its rhythm back.

“We thought it would work and it ended up not, and it took us a while to realize that,” Pehl said.

The score reflected this, the third quarter ending in a score of 58-44. A 14-point lead for the Wolves. Plano West carried the momentum from the first half to the second.

Coppell senior Antonio Romo said communication was an issue in the second half. 

“[We] stopped communicating, stopped playing together,” Romo said.

Coppell coach Clint Schnell is still trying to find what will make the team finally click, and to start competing against teams like Plano West. Schnell is working to fix those small mistakes the team is still making.

“We just need to go back to the fundamentals,” Schnell said.