A crowd full of Coppell middle school students and parents watched at the edge of their seats as the Coppell girls basketball team fell to the Haltom Buffalos 43-35 in a closely matched game at Coppell High School Friday night. The middle school students were there for the annual Middle School Night hosted by Coppell basketball teams.

Throughout the fourth quarter, the Cowgirls were in position to score several times, but many missed shots and free throws made it difficult to come back.

“Offensively we had a number of opportunities to score high percentage shots, shots close to and around the rim, that we did not capitalize on,” Coppell girls coach Kristen Davis said. “ Any time you get that many high percentage shots and don’t score, you can’t win a ball game.”

Both teams stayed close throughout the game, tied at halftime, but inconsistency in the Cowgirls’ free throws gave the Buffalos an advantage late in the game ultimately handing them the win.

“Defense is definitely our strong suit and it lacked last night,” CHS junior post Chidera Nwaiwu said. “Our offense relies on our defense to be intense. The energy and focus wasn’t there and ultimately it cost us the game.”

However, with less than three minutes left in the game, the young crowd’s hope grew as

Stayer drove the ball across the court and nailed a layup bringing up the score to 34-30.

The fourth quarter was full of fouls and free throws on both teams but the Cowgirls’ offense proved weak as they would often miss one of their two free throws. This inconsistency left  the home team eight to nine points behind Haltom throughout the quarter and ultimately cost them the game.  With one second left, Haltom scored 2 points by free throws, winning the game at 43-35.

Video by Lili Lomas