Shorthorns Make the Sweet 16 With Regional Quarterfinal Win Over Weimar
The Schulenburg boys basketball team competed in a regional quarterfinal matchup against district opponent Weimar Saturday afternoon at Columbus where they were able to scrape out a match that came down to the wire in a 42-40 victory.
It was a game of trading punches until Weimar was able to hit back-to-back three pointers to take a 37-30 lead in the third quarter.
Schulenburg didn’t lose their rhythm as they clawed their way back and won the game by hitting two clutch free throws from junior guard Kenny King in the final seconds.
“They’ve been resilient all year long,” said Schulenburg head boys basketball coach Rich Hoogendoorn. “I kept telling them on the bench, ‘We’re fixing to bust loose! We’re fixing to bust loose!’ Weimar was really good and Joey (Ramirez) hitting those threes was taking the wind out of our sails. We were behind Thursday night in Dewyville worse than this, we came back. We didn’t really play well Monday night against Thorndale, but we figured out a way to win. We hit some big free throws at the end and never gave up.”
Horns senior center Alex Lozano scored 13 points on the day with most of his points coming from three pointers.
“I felt good shooting the three today,” Lozano said. “In warm ups, I saw that my shot was getting down. Props to my teammates for getting me open on all those passes. We knew we were going to come back and win this game.”
You could feel the energy looming in what was a packed house at the Marley Giddens Center of Columbus High School. Weimar started the action by scoring the first five points of the game. The first basket was a lay up right from the opening tip and then a three pointer, both made by senior guard Felix Sanchez. Schulenburg struggled in the opening minutes to find the hoop from close-range, but then responded with four unanswered points from senior guard Bryce Wilson. The Horns took a 9-7 lead once Lozano hit a three pointer in the corner with 25 seconds to go. A couple possessions later, Schulenburg turned the ball over in the final seconds of the quarter and Weimar made a lay up at the buzzer to tie the game at 9 a piece.
In the beginning of the second period, Schulenburg’s King drove up the sideline and pitched the ball behind him to Lozano in stride for another corner three pointer and the first points of the quarter. At the 2:25 mark, Weimar junior guard Joey Ramirez hit one free throw to give the Wildcats the lead back at 19-18.
Schulenburg then decided to go into a 2-3 zone with just under two minutes and the score remained 19-18 going into halftime. Weimar hit one of two free throws to start the third quarter, then Lozano hit another three in the corner on the next possession as both teams went back and forth scoring. Weimar’s Ramirez splashed a three pointer at the 1:47 mark to give the Wildcats a 29-25 lead, then Schulenburg went on a run of their own and hit a three from senior guard Jalen Wilson to take a 31-30 lead with 50 seconds to play in the period.
Weimar held for the last shot and Ramirez launched a three that hit the front iron and ricocheted off the backboard. Schulenburg junior guard Keisean Johnson secured the rebound, dribbled the ball just past half court, and threw up a heave that soared over the backboard in order for Weimar to hold their lead at 31-30 heading into the fourth quarter.
In the opening minutes of the period was when Weimar’s Ramirez hit the two dagger three pointers to give the Wildcats their largest lead of the day at 37-30 that forced Schulen-burg to call a timeout with 6:09 to play.
Schulenburg’s Bryce Wilson hit two free throws out of the timeout, then senior forward Brett Janecek drew an enormous charge call at the 5:46 mark to give Schulenburg some momentum back. With just under five minutes, King cut to the basket on a pass from Wilson and converted the lay up. Then Jalen Wilson added another lay up on a pass from the other side of the block that created space for Wilson to drive to the basket and score. These two plays put the Horns back in reach at 37-36.
Weimar’s Ramirez and Schulenburg’s King matched free throws with about three minutes to play to make it a 39-38 ball game. Lozano then grabbed a rebound off a Weimar miss, drew a foul on an attempted pass up the floor, and made both free throws to give the Horns the lead back at 40-39 with 2:17 to go.
King snatched a steal on the next possession and missed the lay up, but Bryce Wilson was there on the follow and put back attempt where he was fouled. Wilson missed the first free throw and Schulenburg called a timeout. Wilson then missed the following free throw after the break. Weimar’s Sanchez drew a foul at the 1:14 mark and made one of two free throws to tie the game at 40 before Schulenburg turned the ball over. Weimar milked the clock until Bryce Wilson went in for the steal with 14 seconds left, drove to the rim, and had his lay up attempt rejected by Ramirez. Lozano inbounded from under the hoop to Kenny King who made a cut through the baseline, went up for a lay up, and was fouled with 9.3 seconds to go.
King then sank both free throws as the Horns crowd roared after each make. Weimar quickly drove up the court and missed a three pointer off the front of the rim. Sanchez grabbed the rebound and threw up a last second attempt from the elbow to tie the game that was contested by two Schulenburg defenders.
The shot hit the backboard before it hit the front of the rim and missed as the buzzer sounded. The Schulenburg crowd erupted and the Horns bench rushed the court for a 42-40 win and a bid to the regional semifinals.
Schulenburg scoring: Kenny King-10, Keisean Johnson-4, Bryce Wilson-10, Jalen Wilson-5, Alex Lozano-13.
Weimar scoring: Joey Ramirez 18, Jose Ramirez 2, Felix Sanchez 19, Clayton Nunnelly 1..
Schulenburg (21-7) vs. Sabina! (20-1)
The Schulenburg boys basketball team (21-7) now advances to face the Sabina! Yellowjackets (20-1) in the 2A regional semifinals Tuesday. Details were not finalized at press time.
The winner of this game advances to face the Hull-Daisetta vs. Port Aransas winner in the regional finals later this week.