Mustangs win at Galveston Ball

Photo by Mike Woolley

From Mike Gunning of the Galveston Daily News:

GALVESTON — The Friendswood Mustangs scored seven points — five from the foul line — in the final minute of the fourth quarter to beat the Ball Tornadoes, 50-44, in a District 24-4A game in Galveston on Friday night.

The game was close throughout, with both teams playing almost even through three quarters. But four turnovers by Ball (6-16, 2-4) in the first minute of the fourth quarter led to eight points for the Mustangs (13-13, 5-2) and the end for the Tors.

“We have to learn to play through those times,” Ball High coach Jerald Temple said. “We hit these stretches and we don’t respond like we need to.”

Ball took a 24-22 lead into the half, then opened the third on an offensive tear, outscoring Friendswood 9-0 to push the score to 33-22 before the Mustangs responded after coach Jeff Keener called timeout. 

With sixth man Tolin Avery sitting out with a thumb injury and Justin Bliss on the bench for a breather, the Mustangs started working the ball inside to big man Will Hibbs. Hibbs scored four in the paint, forcing a double team. Chris Collins found the outside shot open, and made the Tors pay with a 3-pointer, helping the Mustangs close the gap to 36-35 after three quarters.

Ball came into the game with back-to-back wins for the first time this season and looked like it could stretch the streak behind the hot-handed shooting of freshman Mark Turner. Turner was perfect from the 3-point line, going 4-for-4 and scoring 12 points in the first half. But Keener told his players enough was enough.

“I told them to play like Mustangs,” Keener said. “I told them to know where he was at all times, he’s a dangerous player on the court, and we were giving him too many looks.”

Turner was held scoreless in the second half, but still led all scorers with the first half output.

Despite the standings, the future looks bright for the Tors. Ball is a much-improved team compared to the early part of the season, with big contributions coming from some of the youngest members.

“These kids are talented, their coachable, they want to win,” Temple said. “If they can turn three minutes of good basketball into 7 minutes, and 7 into 16, and so on, than they will be the team everyone is looking at.”