Not every win looks pretty, but all that matters is getting a win and the El Campo Ricebirds stayed perfect in District 25 beating the Brookshire Royal Falcons 62-53 at home Tuesday night.
El Campo was up by as much as 20 points before Royal went on a big run to pull within two possessions late. The Ricebirds made plays down the stretch to make it a comfortable win, putting them in control of the first-place seed with six games left in district.
“This is the first time since we’ve been 4-0 in district,” El Campo coach Kevin Lewis said. “We have a long way to go, these guys played hard and withstood a great Royal run. We knocked some free throws down and got out of here with a win. We’ve still got a lot of work to do to accomplish our goals.”
This is the first time since 2015 that El Campo was 4-0 in district play.
Threes helped El Campo build a lead and helped them stay in front of a hard-closing Royal. On the night, the Ricebirds connected on nine threes, their defense held Royal to one.
“I think we got a lot of skill and mainly we’ve got a lot of shooters around the court which has been a big part of (our winning this year),” Ricebird junior Oliver Miles said.
El Campo opened the third quarter with tough defense, junior La’Darian Lewis knocked a pass away from a Royal player. Ricebird senior Cruz Gonzalez grabbed the loose ball, brought the ball up the court and stopped at the free-throw line and made a mid-range floater to make it 38-22.
Royal followed with a dunk but received a technical foul for hanging on the rim. Ricebird junior Jake Samaripa on the following possession connected on a three to put El Campo ahead 16 points.
Royal on the ensuing possession was issued their third technical foul on the game, junior Oliver Miles made both free throws. With the extra possession, Cruz made an elbow jumper to make it 46-26, their biggest lead of the game, midway through the third quarter.
The Falcons slowly started chipping away at the lead and despite pulling within single digits, El Campo went 8-12 at the line to keep their lead.
Miles had a game-high 18 points and Lewis added in another 16, as the only two Ricebirds in double-digit scoring. Miles, Samiripa and junior Keshawn Smith had two threes each.
El Campo played Wharton last night to close out the first round of district play. They are off on Tuesday and will play again next Friday, against Sealy on the road.
The El Campo Ladybirds fell to the Brookshire Royal Lady Falcons 54-39 on Tuesday night at home.
El Campo played Royal tight early, but couldn’t stop their junior guard who chipped in 34 points.
Ladybird senior Tyra Owens led the team with 11 points.
El Campo played Wharton last night to close out the first round of district play. They are off on Tuesday and will play again next Friday, against Sealy on the road.
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