OT puts 'Birds back in playoff picture
By KRIS BAGLEY sports@leader-news.com

L-N Photo by Kris Bagley Close Competition Travis Pflughaupt (right) was called for a jump ball after this play where he almost fouled a Terry defender in El Campo's first game with the Rangers.

Extra time made El Campo's win over Terry extra special.

The Ricebirds hosted the Rangers Friday and earned a 59-58 win in overtime to keep playoff hopes alive.

Entering the game, El Campo had already lost to Terry earlier in the season and was in fourth place. With the win, the Ricebirds and Rangers are tied for third in district with the postseason quickly approaching.

The 'Birds traveled to Bay City Friday night and will host Foster Tuesday. A loss in either game would be hard for El Campo to overcome.

Head Coach Phillip Spenrath said the win over Terry was much needed for his team and he recognized the importance of every game through the rest of the season.

"It puts us back in the hunt," Spenrath said. "We've still got to win the next two for sure. If we lose these next two, we're dead. Terry will beat them and we've got to beat them. Then it's who can beat the big boys (Lamar Consolidated and Seven Lakes). If we get fortunate enough to beat them, then we're going to the playoffs and Terry's not.

"If we both struggle, then we'll have to play it off for third to see what happens. At least there's hope still. If we'd have lost that game, it would have been over. They would have had a two-game lead and we couldn't have caught them."

The Ricebirds attacked the Rangers with an emphasized game plan.

In the previous match at Terry, the Rangers got out to an early lead and held El Campo back to take the game 74-58.

This time the Ricebirds intended to take a large lead and it worked. By the end of the first quarter, El Campo led 21-7.

"We really stressed it was important that we get a lead," Spenrath said. "Last time, they got the lead and they spread the floor. Even though it's an unorthodox coaching method, it works very well. They spread out the court and they were quicker than us.

"If we got out to a lead, they couldn't stall (because) we'd be ahead. We really emphasized that and the kids understood it. We didn't throw the ball away. We did everything pretty much perfect to start the game."

Terry staged a comeback in the second quarter to cut the lead to 31-28, but with El Campo ahead, the Ricebirds kept charge of the game.

The lead changed several times throughout the third quarter, but by the end El Campo was still ahead 44-40.

Terry outscored El Campo 12- 8 in the fourth to force overtime and the Ricebirds came through with just over a second left.

Anthony Terrell paced the Ricebirds with 6 of their 7 points in the extra period while Terry managed only 6 points. At under 5 seconds, Terry had the lead 58- 57 until Terrell was fouled.

The guard went to the freethrow line with 1.4 seconds left in the game and Terrell came through with a pair of baskets for the 59-58 win.

"It was big, stepping up with one second left," Spenrath said. "And he didn't swish them. They clanked off parts of that rim on both of them. I guess I was just so thankful to have another chance."

RICEBIRDS STATS

El Campo 59, Terry 58

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	F
EC 21		10	13	8	7
T	7	19	12	12	6

EC Leaders

POINTS - Anthony Terrell 22, Travis Pflughaupt 19, Kevin Gooden 8, Landon Appling 6

REBOUNDS - Pflughaupt 13