Ricebirds claim Columbus tourney crown
By KRIS BAGLEY sports@leader-news.com

Kevin Gooden

The Ricebirds received a major boost this past week when a key player returned to the lineup in a big way.

Kevin Gooden, starting guard, gave El Campo a presence they have not had yet this season - an outside threat.

The added 3-point attack helped free up Travis Pflughaupt and the Ricebirds' post play and spurred El Campo to the Columbus Tournament championship.

El Campo finished the tournament, held Dec. 20 through 22, with wins over Smithville, Rockdale and finally, La Grange.

"Kevin has improved drastically," Philip Spenrath, head coach of the Ricebirds, said. "The first game he came back (against Smithville), I thought he would be rusty. He knew all the plays and worked right in.

"He was pumped up and excited. He brought some energy and some outside shooting that we missed. In some of the early games, people packed it in on us and we were having trouble making the three. Since Kevin has been back, we're getting six to seven threes a game and he's getting three or four of them. He's added a whole new dimension."

That dimension allowed Pflughaupt to once again dominate under the basket without several defenders collapsing in on him.

Travis Pflughaupt

By tournament's end, Pflughaupt was the MVP while Gooden made first team.

Pflughaupt finished with 48 total points and more than 30 rebounds while Gooden scored 60 points, including six 3-pointers.

"It made me feel good," Gooden said. "The team looks up to me now. They think I can make good plays and stuff like that."

With El Campo's key rotation taking form, Gooden said the Ricebirds can be good - playoff good.

"We can go to the playoffs again if we all keep our grades up and keep focused on the game," he said. "If we all try to go our own separate ways, it won't work.

La Grange gave El Campo a challenge in the title game.

El Campo entered the final quarter tied with La Grange at 50-50. The Ricebirds had a bit of a scoring slump in the quarter and with 3:40 left in the game, La Grange enjoyed a 9-point lead.

The 'Birds answered with a tight man-to-man defense and ultimately tied the score on a pair of Pflughaupt free throws with 1:12 left in the game.

Anthony Terrell connected for a quick basket and Larry Williams made a free throw to give El Campo a 3-point lead with 24 seconds remaining.

La Grange responded with a 3-point play and tied the game at 64-64 at the 18-second mark.

With time running out, Gooden put up a shot to win, but missed. Pflughaupt was there for the rebound and put back to put the Ricebirds up 66-64 with 3.7 seconds left.

A desperate attempt at a 3-pointer failed for La Grange and El Campo finished the game with the tournament championship.