EC Ricebirds pushing for tourney title
By KRIS BAGLEY sports@leader-news.com

L-N Photo by Kris Bagley Big Man Is Back Travis Pflughaupt goes up for a basket against the Hitchcock Bulldogs Thursday in the Ricebirds' second game of their tournament in Needville.

The Ricebirds made a great start to the Leroy Miksch Memorial Basketball Tournament in Needville Thursday.

A pair of back-to-back wins over Danbury and Hitchcock put the Ricebirds in first place in Pool A as they await the championship game Saturday.

As of presstime, El Campo's opponent was unknown. The Ricebirds will play either Needville, Gary or Boling, who all played Friday night to compete at Needville High School today at 1 p.m.El Campo started the tournament with a 66-45 win over Danbury. The Ricebirds outscored Danbury in every quarter except the fourth to a firstgame rout.

The Ricebirds' most impressive win came later that night against Hitchcock.

El Campo battled a 36-28 deficit at halftime to finish with a 67-64 win by overcoming turnovers and playing strong defense late in the game.

"We never give up," Philip Spenrath, coach of the Ricebirds, said. "We play full-court (defense) a lot and the only reason we played half-court (defense) early is because we were trying to save our legs because we just played a little while ago.

"I've always told them the game is a game of runs. They'll go up by 20 and we may go up by 20 and that's kind of what happened. They fight. These kids have always played really hard. After football, there's a lot of turnovers and a lot of silly mistakes. We were able to cut those down."

The third quarter was when the game changed.

After the Ricebirds' primary offensive target, Travis Pflughaupt, got into foul trouble, Jac Axel took his place at high post and played well.

Axel led the 'Birds with a strong rebounding presence to take several second chances on a few missed shots.

Along with Axel, guards Anthony Terrell and Maverick Smith helped to penetrate the Bulldog defense and opened up a few outside shots.

In the first few minutes of the quarter, El Campo outscored Hitchcock 15- 9 to cut the Bulldogs' lead to 49-43.

Axel picked up his own rebound on a layup for a quick put-back to cut the lead to 49-45 with 2:32 left in the quarter.

Almost a minute later, with the score at 52-47, Landon Appling hit a big 3-pointer to cut the lead to 52-50.

Hitchcock rebounded to take a 56- 52 lead into the fourth quarter, but it was not long until El Campo took the lead.

Forcing a few turnovers, El Campo moved ahead of the Bulldogs in the first 2 minutes of the quarter.

Axel hit a basket under the goal 30 seconds into the quarter to cut the lead to 56-54. Larry Williams made a steal around mid-court on the next play and found Axel streaking to the basket for a quick assist to tie the game at 56-56.

With 6:29 left in the game, Axel was fouled while shooting and made his second free throw to give El Campo the lead 57- 56. Hitchcock tied the game on free throws later, but in the next few seconds, the Ricebirds pulled ahead for good.

The 'Birds went on a 6-0 run to move ahead 63-57. The 6-point deficit was too much for Hitchcock to overcome as El Campo held off the Bulldogs in the last few seconds for a 65-61 win.

"I kind of changed the rotation a little bit and played the more experienced kids who have been with me longer," Spenrath said. "Travis Pflughaupt got into foul trouble, but I thought Jac Axel really went to the basket well. Larry Williams and the guards were all playing well. We're just going to get better."

Spenrath said the tournament should help prepare the team for more difficult matches as the year continues.

"That's what tournaments are for, to get everybody playing and to get everybody in shape," he said. "We're not in real good shape right now. They're having fun and I think that's important too."