Flatonia’s Historic Season Ends in the State Semifinals
SAN ANTONIO – In the cavernous Alamodome, in front of a crowd officially listed at 5,126 people, Flatonia’s greatest boys basketball season ever came to an end Friday with a 66-43 loss to La Rue La Poynor in the 2A state semifinals.
La Poynor had been to state just last year. Flatonia never had before.
And that experience difference may have played a role, as the Bulldogs had a rough shooting game, and a relentless La Poynor defense also made the difference.
La Poynor never trailed after the first few minutes of the first quarter.
State bronze medals were hung on each Bulldog after the game, while La Poynor advanced to the state title game.
“I’ve been blessed to be in this situation before and we didn’t always win it,” said Flatonia head coach Chris Sodek, who went to state three times before finally winning it all at Mumford before being hired at Flatonia in 2014. “At the moment you’re disappointed and you don’t realize all that you accomplished. Ten years from now, in 2033, this medal here will mean just as much as gold or silver does.”
“I know it hurts right now, but it’s been a heck of a ride. We can’t complain about anything. We’ve been blessed to have the year we’ve had.”
The Bulldogs crafted a 34-5 overall record this season, won their fourth consecutive district title, won the Region 4 crown, and had won seven in a row going into the state semifinals.
But they hadn’t faced a team like La Poynor.
“La Poynor is a very, very good team. We knew that coming into the game,” Sodek said. “We thought there were some things we could do to give us the best chance to win. Early on things seemed to be working well and then they started hitting shots.
“We didn’t do a very good job of converting easy shots today but they had a lot to do with that. I felt that they won the loose ball battle especially in the first half.”
La Poynor was led by Evan Almeida and Cooper Gracey, who each scored 14 points.
While Flatonia shot just 26-percent from the field, La Poynor shot 40-percent Friday.
As they have all season, the Bulldogs were led by their seniors – which included all five starters (Camden Bosl, Jaidyn Guyton, Keyshaun Green, Holdel Kloesel and Luke Law).
“I love every one of my teammates. We are such close friends. We expected to do this a long time ago, finally got it done this year,” Law said.
“I had a blast this season. I’m going to miss playing with these guys every single day. It’s been a good ride. We had a great season.”
Kloesel led the Bulldogs in scoring with 13 points, and he also grabbed seven rebounds.
Keyshaun Green scored 11 and had three assists.
“We’re going to remember this forever,” Green said. “We came out a little slow, not as much intensity as them. They were just a really good team.”
Guyton scored nine points and grabbed eight rebounds. Bosl also had eight rebounds.
“We’ve been wanting to do this for four years,” Kloesel said. “This year we finally did it. Everyone supported us and it felt great. We wanted to win it all, we tried.”
3/10/23
La Rue La Poynor 66 Flatonia boys 43,
La Rue La Poynor 10 25 12 19 – 66 Flatonia 7 11 11 14 – 43
Flatonia scoring: Jaidyn Guyton 9, Keyshaun Green 11, Holden Kloesel 13, Luke Law 5, Duke Sodek 2, Dayton Cliffe 3.
Record: Flatonia finishes the season with a 34-5 record. La Rue La Poynor improves to 33-7.