By John Loop
Staff Writer

Although it was Senior Night, the Cowboys effort was not enough to pull of a win, losing to Keller Central, 43-41.

Senior point guard Warren Oishi paced the Cowboys with 15 points, Austin Mankin added 9 points on three three-pointers in the first half, but the Cowboys were held to 14 points over the last two quarters.

After starting the game on a 10-8 run, the Cowboys were held to just 3 more points, as Keller answered with a 6-3 run of their own.

The Cowboy rebounding the entire game was not good, resulting in a slim one-point halftime lead, at 27-26.

Right out of the gate, senior post Jett Raines laid the ball in for two of his eight points on the night. The Keller defense stymied Raines, keeping him nine points under his season average (17.6).

The second half was almost the opposite of the first. Shots did not seem to be dropping for the Cowboys at all, as they were outscored, out-rebounded, and outplayed during the final two frames of the game.

“In the second half there was just kind of a lid on the basket,” Mankin said. “We couldn’t really make plays at the other end when we got stops.”

In the closing seconds of the game, after a defensive rebound by the Cowboys, Coppell inbounded the ball to try to get one final play off before the buzzer. Mankin shot a three that clanged off the rim, but Raines got his hands on it and tried to tip it in, to no avail.

Coppell drops to 22-8 on the season, 8-4 in district play.