The Levelland Lobos basketball team hosted Frenship Memorial for a district matchup this past Friday night, falling 57-53, after a spirited effort.
The Lobos trailed 27-21 at halftime, but they would outscore Memorial 32-30 in the second half, and the game would come down to the final minutes, where the Lobos failed to hit shots, and Memorial hit several timely free throws to secure the win.
As a team, Levelland outshot Memorial 28% to 18% from the three-point line, making eight more threepointers, also winning the turnover margin by four, while Memorial outshot them 36% to 29% from the field and made 20 more free throws. They would tie in rebounds, both with 35.
Scorers for the Lobos included Bryson Golightly with 18 points behind three three-pointers made and a 3/5 free throw effort, Kane Rice and Anthony Gonzales both with nine points, Graham Gibbs with eight points, Zavien Longoria with four points, Ethan Salazar with three points and Bentley Sepulbeda with two points.
The loss drops the Lobos to 17-11 overall and 3-5 in district play, which puts them fifth in the 4A District 5 standings. The result really damaged the Lobos playoff push, but Lobos Head Coach Kendall Durrett had no shame about his team’s performance.
“I saw resilience, fight and togetherness. A couple of games against Lakeview and Liberty, I felt like we got away from our standard,” Coach Durrett said. “The guys just came in and worked their tails off. They know their backs are against the wall, and they’re going to continue to claw, scratch and fight. That’s all I can ask for.”
Coach Durrett also noted that moving forward his team has nothing to lose, and he expects the Lobos effort and hard work to reflect that. He wants his guys to control what they can, and maybe the results for the postseason standings will go their way.
The Lobos have four district games remaining against Big Spring, Estacado, San Angelo Lakeview and Lubbock Cooper Liberty. They’ll enjoy a bye at the beginning of the week before heading on the road on Friday to face Big Spring at 7:30 p.m.