'Stangs run win streak to 3; topple Texas City

Photo by Mike Woolley

From Mike Gunning of the Galveston Daily News:

FRIENDSWOOD — Will Hibbs scored 14 points and added 13 rebounds to lead the Friendswood Mustangs over the Texas City Stingarees, 61-46, in a District 24-4A game Tuesday night.

Hibbs also had seven blocks, just missing a rare triple-double.

The win lifts the Mustangs to third place with a 5-3 district record to close out the first half of the season. With eight games left on the schedule, coach Jeff Keener said the game was a must-win for the Mustangs.

“We’ve had our ups and downs this season,” Keener said. “With half the season over, we needed to right ourselves and put us in the position to finish strong.”

The Stings and Mustangs have mirrored each other this season, both coming into the game with identical records, 12-13 overall and 4-3 in district. But Tuesday’s contest was much more than a battle to achieve a .500 record.

For the winner, third place in the standings with the playoffs only a few weeks away.

For the loser, the unenviable position of having to play each game knowing any loss could mean a shortened season.

Despite giving up a huge height advantage to the 6-foot-7 Hibbs and 6-foot-5 power forward Colton Mick, the Stings played Friendswood close early on, with only three points separating the teams at halftime. But eight turnovers in the third quarter led to an 18-10 run, and the Mustangs took a 46-35 lead into the fourth quarter.

Coach Chris mason said the run marked the end for his Stings.

“We’re too small a team to give up the ball like that against guys this big and talented,” Mason said. “We’ve got to learn to play a solid ball-control game and take care of the ball better.”

The Stings were without the services of leading scorer David Richardson, but it was the presence of the Mustang’s big center that proved to be the undoing of Texas City.

Hibbs, a tall right handed pitching prospect that is being looked at by Baylor, Nebraska, and Texas A&M, caused chaos in the paint on defense and consistently drew double teams on offense.

It didn’t matter.

If Hibbs was covered down low, he would take his game to the post, allowing Mick, Chris Collins, Kelby Schimming and Lane Griffin to cut for easy back-door baskets.

Friendswood spread the scoring load, with Mick adding 11 points, followed by 10 for Schimming, 9 for Griffin and 8 for Collins.

Phillip Jones led Texas City with 11 points. Murquell Smith and Keenan Bell each added 8 points for the Stings.