Last time these two heated rivals faced off, it was a surprising upset victory for Ragsdale. This time around the Cowboys were looking for some revenge and get back to winning basketball. In front of a raucous crowd in a very hot gym the game didn’t start very smooth for the Cowboys with their first two possessions as turnovers. Using those early miscues the Tigers got the early 2-0 lead. Southwest settled down and decided to bring it together and gel as a team. After the game was tied at 6-6, the Cowboys pressed the gas down and ran away with a 15-3 run to close the first frame at 21-9. The second quarter kept the margin right around 10 until around the 2:00 mark the Cowboys pulled away a little further and a layup just before the close put the halftime score at 37-21. At the break the Cowboys were told to stick to the basics stay mentally focused. They got the message and the first 4:00 minutes of the third quarter Southwest gunned it out 14-5, to force a Tiger timeout with the score 51-26. The margin remained the same as the third concluded at 58-33. The final quarter allowed for some of Southwest’s youth to get quality minutes and even held their own by pushing the final tally at 80-50. Ragsdale was lead by Brian Rouse (11). Brandon Clyburn had a monster game scoring 22 first half points taking advantage of the box-and-one being played against Jordan Hanmer. The defensive emphasis switched over to Clyburn in the second half as he finished with 24 points. With the junk defense off Hanner was able to put 13 points together in the second half to finish with 21. Overall this was the most complete team game for the Cowboys, and hopefully signs of things to come.
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final
Ragsdale 09 12 12 17 50
Southwest 21 16 21 22 80
Ragsdale (4-10, 2-1) : James Stepp 5, Bryan Rouse 11, K. Mack 4, E. Romer 3, Joseph Bryant 4, Daniel Kanakanui 3, Randall Nguyen 4, F. Davis 4, Jarratt Holland 9, D. Willis 3.
Southwest : Ray Bridges 8, Herbie Bridges 2, Jordan Hanner 21, Brandon Clyburn 24, Saxton Cotton 10, Braxton Daye 5, Anton Morgan 2, KJ Langley 2, DJ Chamblee 1, Michael Bryant 5.