By Mark Slette
Staff Writer
Taking on the Hebron Hawks (22-7) for the second time this season, the Coppell Cowboys (19-12) had hoped they could pull out at least one win against the top team in district. Hebron got the better of the Cowboys once again, topping Coppell 56-38.
Coppell head coach Kit Pehl hinted before the game that they were expecting a “blood bath” from a team with Hebron’s physicality. That physicality was the deciding factor in Friday’s must-win matchup.The Cowboys had to fight for every point as they were taking on a real tough team.
In the first quarter, the Hawks had a quick start, scoring the first six points of the game.Then with a couple of good defensive stops, the Cowboys came back and tied it up to end the quarter knotted at 11.
The Hawks started piling up the points at the beginning of the second quarter, going on a 13-4 point run in the first six minutes of the second quarter and headed into the locker room at half with a comfortable 26-17 lead over Coppell.
The third quarter, Coppell once again made it a close game. Senior forward Josh Feitl lead the team on a seven-point run. In that run, The Cowboys had some solid teamwork and great communication down the court. Overall, the team shot the ball better. Pehl commented about the third quarter saying “[The team] had good momentum.”
But Hebron head coach Mark Bishop stopped the Cowboy run dead in its tracks with a timeout.
After the short break, the Hawks shifted into cruise control as a 16-0 run decimated any chance of a Cowboys comeback. Coppell found themselves down 42-24 heading into the final quarter of play.
That 18-point deficit was too large to overcome in one quarter for Coppell, who dropped to 3-6 in District 5-5A play.
The story of the night was poor three point shooting. Shots were flying from the three point arc friday night, but none could fall into the basket for the Cowboys. Coppell finished 2-of-22 from deep.
“We just didn’t take advantage of all the opportunities we had,” sophomore guard Josh Fink said. “Now we need to focus on Tuesday night’s game.”
The Cowboys will play at home against Flower Mound on Tuesday at 7:30. If the Cowboys win, there is the possibility of a play-in game between the Jaguars and Cowboys for the fourth seed in the postseason.
