By John Loop
Sport Writer
District 5-5A has not at all been what the Coppell Cowboys were expecting.
With a 1-4 record in the new “I-35 Belt” district, head coach Kit Pehl now has to go back to the drawing board to attempt to resurrect the Cowboys before jumping headlong into the second round of match-ups between familiar teams.
“Any given night, everybody knows what everybody does,” Pehl said in an interview last week. “It is going to be who makes the most plays, but I think we have learned that we are going to have to claw to get what we need to win a ball game.”
The Cowboys currently sit at fifth on the district leader board, which will not be enough to get them to the playoffs if they cannot start piecing together some wins to keep themselves in the hunt.
“After playing all the teams in district, we know what the teams’ strengths and weaknesses, as well as their tendencies,” senior post Patrick Barden said. “We are capable in beating any team this second time around.”
Most of these crucial victories will be staged away from Coppell High School. The Cowboys have had, mysteriously, better success on the road than in front of the home crowd, notching an 8-7 mark away from CHS.
“Personally, I think we play better on the road,” Barden said. “We are mentally more prepared and we play like we have nothing to lose.”
The second round begins Tuesday night as the Cowboys travel to Marcus High School in an attempt to even the season series against the Marauders.
Senior Night yields accolades for committed ballers
For four years, seven Cowboy basketball seniors have spent their time hoisting shots, running suicides, and lifting weights to make sure that their senior season was the best it could be. Though the season hasn’t gone as expected, many of the seniors now get a chance to be recognized at Friday’s game against the Red Raiders of Denton Ryan.
“The seniors have thought about senior night for a little bit, but we have been focusing mainly on our schedule,” Barden said. “When Friday comes, it will be something special.”
Freshman Fink continues contribution
Freshman guard Josh Fink hit the first three-pointer of his varsity career late in the fourth quarter on Friday against Flower Mound.
Fink’s season scoring average is now at 2.5 points per game.
District recap
By Tanner McCord
The boys opened up with a very close loss against the now 2-3 Flower Mound Marcus squad, losing 50-47. The second game of district, the team took on Denton Ryan and came away with a victory, hoping the first game was just a transitional period. However when the third game rolled around against Lewisville where the boys fought hard, however at the very end the Farmers were up by a single point, giving the Cowboys another loss. Following Lewisville came the seemingly unstoppable Hebron Hawks who are undefeated in district currently. But again the squad put up a very good fight, taking just a five point loss to Hebron. Flower Mound’s Jaguars came to Coppell most recently and took a victory home, defeating Coppell 53-39.
There is still plenty of hope for the Cowboy’s season, though, as starting tomorrow, district play starts over when Flower Mound Marcus will host the Cowboys. With every game being as close as they have been, a comeback may very well be in order.
