The Levelland Lobos traveled to Denver City for a weekend long tournament where they team faced-off against Alpine for their first game on Thursday.
The game was a close one that went down to the wire but the Lobos were able to outlast the Alpine Bucks 49-43.
It was a very defensive game from both teams throughout but Levelland was able to get the best of the Bucks to their coaching and talent in the post.
In the first quarter of the game Levelland trailed Alpine 109, with most of their points coming from Eryk Jones as he had five in the first quarter.
The second quarter Levelland was able to find the bottom of the bucket as they poured on 10 points compared to Alpine’s three.
Going into the halftime break Levelland held the lead 19-13 with most of their points coming from inside the paint.
The leading scorer at the half for the Lobos was Jones who had his points come from the first quarter.
Coming out of the break the Lobos kept their hot streak alive as they were able to get another 13 while holding the Bucks to only eight. The Lobos held the lead going into the fourth quarter with a score of 32-21.
In the fourth quarter though, Levelland would find themselves in a close game as they let off the gas and allowed the bucks to come within a three point deficit. The Lobos were able to hold onto the lead and escape with the win due to their good free throws from Eryk Jones as he was able to hit 46 of them in the fourth quarter alone.
Levelland’s leading scorer of the night was Jones as he had 11 points on the night with six of them coming from the back half of the game.
Jaden Castillo had another 10, Sean Landrum was able to tally another eight, Travion Holland had seven, Anthony Gonzales had four, Elijah Jordan had three and Ozzie Salano finished with two.
For the Lobos second game of the tournament the team went against the Lovington Wildcats where the team fell 56-47 early Friday morning.
The Lobos kept it close as they had the game all tied up 22 each going into the halftime break.
Going into the third quarter the Lobos were clicking offensively as they were able to outscore the Wildcats by two and take the narrow lead.
Although Levelland was able to keep the game close throughout, the team just ran out of gas as Lovington was able to pour it on and take the game with a strong finish.
The leading scorer for the Lobos was Travion Holland with 13 points on the game.
Jaden Castillo had another 11 points for the team, Eryk Jones had 10, Sean Landrum had six and Elijah Jordan finished with three.
It was tough sledding for both teams as their shooting percentages were very rough. Levelland shot 24 percent from the field while shooting 47 percent from the free throw line.
Levelland would finish the second day of the Denver City Tournament with a record of 1-1 coming off of their loss to Lovington.
Going into the Lobos third game on Saturday in the evening the team went against the Monahans Loboes where the team won in a close game 55-52.
Levelland would trail early in the game as the Loboes would have in going early in the game outscoring Levelland 16-7 in the first quarter.
In the second quarter it was a closer battle for Levelland as they were able to keep up with the high scoring offense that Monahans has but was still outscored in the second, 16-15.
Going into the break of the Lobos last game of the tournament they were trailing 32-22.
Going into the second half of the game the Lobos would hold Monahans to only seven points in the third quarter as they were able to cut the lead 39-31.
To end off the close game in the fourth quarter the Lobos were able to put up 25 points in the final quarter with 12 of the points coming from Lobo Castillo.
Levelland was able to hold off the Loboes the rest of the way as they allowed them to only score 13 the rest of the game.
The leading scorer for the team against Monahans was Castillo who had 19 for the team.
Eryk Jones had another 16, Ozzie Salano snagged another eight, Travion Holland had four and Sean Landrum was able to finish with three.
Levelland was outrebounded 38-to-31 by Monahans and they were able to lead the game in steals with 12 on the day compared to the Loboes 11.
From the floor the team shot 38 percent while Monahans went for 44 percent. Free throws Levelland shot 44 percent while the Loboes shot for 50 percent.
Levelland finished off the Denver City Tournament with a 21 record with their only loss coming from Lovington early in the morning on Friday.
The Lobos progressed to 4-4 on the season with their great play in the tournament and will be in facing off against the Brownfield Cubs this Tuesday at home at 6:30 p.m.