By John Loop
Sports Writer

The Coppell student section screamed at the top of their lungs as Lewisville senior guard Jaden Wright stepped to the free throw line with the game on the line.

The senior’s first of two free throws proved to be the difference in a matchup between two District 5-5A foes.

The cycle of resiliency and carelessness reared its ugly head again for the second time in a two week span on Friday night as the Cowboys stormed back behind the play of junior guard Landon Goesling. But Lewisville highlighted the Cowboys tendency to give the ball away.

Goesling led the Cowboys with a game-high 12 points. Junior forward Josh Feitl chipped in six before leaving the game with a head injury in the second quarter.

The Cowboys stuck to their usual defensive intensity, holding Lewisville to three points in the first quarter, while scoring seven of their own to take a four-point lead into the second quarter.

“We have to defend, and we have to defend hard,” Coppell head coach Kit Pehl said. “We are not a potent offensive team, so us taking people out of what they want to do, and holding them to low scoring games is a necessity.”

But, as has been the case time and time again this season, Lewisville mounted a comeback to take a 20-17 lead heading to the locker room at half.

It was before halftime that the Cowboys lost Josh Feitl for the duration of the game.

The junior forward stepped in to take a charge from Farmers senior forward Luis Hernandez and went to the floor. The hardwood shook as Feitl hit his head on the court.

He remained down for about five minutes and was then escorted off the court by Coppell head trainer Yvette Carson to be examined. His status is still unclear.

This call was only among a handful of fouls that went in favor of the Cowboys. The two-man officiating crew was under scrutiny all night.

Nevertheless, the second half started the same as the game had, with only a total of three points scored between the two teams.

The Cowboys were found themselves stretched to the bitter edge on the defensive end all night, Lewisville seemed to switch between a half-court and an up-tempo offensive set each quarter.

“We knew what they would do in the full court, but in the half court , most of the games we have scouted, they have played really, really, really fast,” Pehl said. “The opportunity to watch them in the half court we have not seen a lot of, so we had to plan for both.”

With Wright and sophomore post Anthony Davis running the floor and netting bucket after bucket, matters did not look favorable for the Cowboys.

But, behind the stellar play of Goesling, the Cowboys clawed back to take the lead with just over two minutes left in regulation.

Coppell then proceeded to shoot themselves in the foot with a costly turnover and Lewisville tied it back up at 30 on a Wright jumper with just under a minute left.

“They got a few buckets in transition just because we were careless with the basketball,” Pehl said. “That was the difference in the whole game, you know, us with a few careless turnovers that really hurt us.”

Coppell got the lead back to 31-30 on the next trip down the floor, after junior forward Simi Socks, who finished with five points, hit one free throw.

But that lead would evaporate after a careless foul by junior guard Clay Kemp on Wright. As the the cowboys hung their heads in disappointment, Wright made one of two free throws. A Kemp heave from three-quarter court at the buzzer fell short, and Coppell sauntered slowly off the floor with a 1-2 district record.

Up next, a Hebron team who has only been hit with two losses this season and sits atop the District 5-5A leader-board.

The Cowboys take on the Hawks at Coppell High School on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.