Playoffs end in heartbreak for Hornets
By KRIS BAGLEY sports@leader-news.com

L-N Photo by Kris Bagley Hornets' Season Ends Cory Hajovsky had the hot hand Tuesday in leading his Hornets with 13 points, but Louise fell to Sabinal 56-50 in the first round of the playoffs.

Louise's basketball season came to an end with a first-round playoff loss Tuesday. The Hornets fell 56-50 to the Sabinal Yellow Jackets.

The game seemed to mirror most contests in the Hornets' season.

Throughout the year, Louise has started games well, but as time runs out, the Hornets have a hard time maintaining their lead.

Against Sabinal, Louise pulled out to a 12-9 lead after the first quarter and took a 29-22 lead into halftime. The second half, however, was all Sabinal.

"I don't know what it is," Head Coach Joe Bill said. "Normally, it's been the third quarter that's hurt us but this time it was a little bit of both. They outscored us in the third quarter 19-13 but in the fourth quarter, they outscored us 15-8. Had we been able to get a couple of buckets there at the end of the game, then that would have been a big difference."

Bill said turnovers marred his teams chances. The Hornets simply had a tough time against the Yellow Jackets' defense.

"We made a lot of turnovers," Bill said. "We were just trying to push the ball up the floor and were just making mistakes. At the same time, you've got to give them credit. They did a good job. You've got to give those guys credit. They did a good job of not throwing the ball away and being patient."

One of the Yellow Jackets' strengths is their ability to switch into several defensive formations. Louise had scored at ease early on, but as Sabinal changed to take away the inside game, the Hornets forced shots and panicked with some passes.

"They did mix up their defense," Bill said. "They jumped into a man and we hurt them a little bit in the man. They quickly got out of it and got into a zone and spread it out a little bit."

"Basically, what we did, there was a lot of unforced errors. We made a lot of bad passes. Consecutive times, we went down the floor, took the ball down the right side and couldn't get out."

Seniors Nick Barrera, Wesley Branscum, Cory Hajovsky, Kyle Tegeler and Matthew Vasquez were all emotional after the game. Bill said he wanted this win for his senior class and was disappointed that the year ended with only one playoff game.

"They took it pretty tough," the coach said. "Those kids, they've been playing basketball here since they were in third grade and they are a special group of kids. I remember coaching against these guys when I was in Van Vleck when they were in junior high. I remember how athletic they were and well skilled and had a lot of good basketball sense.

"I remember when I was at Van Vleck coaching against these kids at Louise and that was one of the reasons why I came here. I knew they had a special talent and they were going to be good. It was hard to see them after the game because they sure wanted to win."

The Hornets finished the year with a 7-16 overall record.

HORNETS STATS

Sabinal 56, Louise 50

	1st	2nd 3rd		4th	F
L	12	17	13	8	- 50
S	9	13	19	15 - 56

LHS Leaders

POINTS - Cory Hajovsky 13, Matthew Vasquez 12, Wesley Branscum 10, Matthew Blumrick 6, Chris Hicks 4, Chico Vasquez 3, Nick Barrera 2