'Stangs beat Cougars to go 2-1 in district

Jordan Wood

From galvestondailynews.com's Jordan Godwin:

FRIENDSWOOD — For the second time in as many trips to Friendswood, the La Marque boys basketball team suffered a heartbreaking loss. 

Only this time, it was a game it wasn’t supposed to win. 

On Friday night, the Cougars (1-14) were desperate for the taste of victory, but Friendswood came out on top once again, 54-47, in an early District 24-4A contest. 

Last season, the Cougars were on top of the world and near the top of the Class 4A state rankings when the Mustangs beat them, 45-42, Feb. 4. 

Friendswood (8-8, 2-1 district) used big contributions from several sophomores Friday and its trademark defense to shut down La Marque for most of the game. 

“As hard as we pushed, they never gave up,” Friendswood coach Jeff Keener said. “We did just enough to win tonight, but I’m proud of the way the guys closed out in the end.”

Friendswood’s sophomore guard Lane Griffon hit all six of his free throws in the fourth quarter to help the Mustangs run away with it in the last minute. They attempted 17 free throws in the fourth quarter, largely because La Marque had four players foul out. 

“That’ll hurt you in the long run,” La Marque coach Anthony Murphy said. “But we came in here knowing that the best team in La Marque history lost here last year and that we’d need to really play if we wanted to win.”

La Marque’s Rodney Willis was got his fifth foul on a questionable call with less than 3 minutes to play in the game and the Cougars down by 2 points. The next time down the court, Aaron Gilliam also fouled out, the third Cougar to do so. 

Despite the adversity, Brian Allen tied the game for the first time since the first minute when he was fouled on a layup with 1:26 remaining. A lane violation voided his free throw, and he fouled out with 40 seconds left and the Mustangs up two. The Cougars didn’t score another point without Allen. 

Griffon finished the game with 12 points, and senior forward Colton Mick had 12 points and nine rebounds for Friendswood. Will Hibbs had nine points, four rebounds and two blocks, Jordan Wood had seven points and six rebounds, and Quinton Mertz had six points, entirely on free throws. Ryan Teel and Michael Montalvo both added four points for the Mustangs. 

Allen led La Marque with 13 points, including one massive dunk in the second quarter. Junior Rodney Willis had nine points, Reggie Harris had seven points, Chase Mason had six points and five rebounds, and Al Curry added four points.