….Sickness Hits Squad at Critical Time in the Season
The Ryan Cowboys boys’ basketball season came to an end last weekend as they dropped two straight in the Class B Regional Tournament.
In last Thursday’s winners’ bracket contest, Big Pasture rolled to a 56-26 victory at Fox.
Last Friday in the consolation bracket semifinals, Ryan fell to Alex, 60-29, on the Longhorns’ home floor.
The Cowboys battled illness that hit the squad in the early part of the week leading up to the regional tourney and continued through the tourney.
Ryan’s boys finish with a 14-9 mark for the 2022 season.
The signal that the end of the season was imminent came early in Friday’s game with Alex.
The Longhorns opened the game on a 13-0 scoring blitz and finished the first quarter with an 18-2 advantage thanks to three treys.
Early in the second quarter the lead increased to 21-2 before the Cowboys could stop the Longhorn scoring barrage.
The energy-depleted Cowboys simply had no answer for the Longhorns the rest of the way.
The Cowboys rallied a bit in the second quarter, but still trailed, 33-11, at the break.
The two teams battled on near-even terms in the third quarter as Alex outscored the Cowboys only by a 14-12 margin but the lead of 47-23 was insurmountable.
The Longhorns closed out the fourth quarter with a 13-6 scoring advantage to set the final score.
Julian Rodriguez was the top scorer for the Cowboys with 12 points, but no other Cowboy was in double figures.
Landen Alexander led the squad in rebounding with eight.
The Cowboys committed 25 turnovers in the contest and shot only 28% from the field including only two of 21 from beyond the arc.
In Thursday’s contest with Big Pasture the Cowboys fell behind 6-0 on consecutive three-pointers by the Rangers in the first 90 seconds of the game, but Ryan rallied a bit through the rest of the quarter.
The two teams actually played on even terms the rest of the quarter.
Westin Jennings got Ryan on the scoreboard with a reverse layup that cut the Ranger lead to 6-2, but another trey gave Big Pasture a 9-2 advantage.
After a pair of free throws by Jennings, the Rangers got two layups and with 3:40 left in the first quarter the Rangers had extended the lead to 13-4.
The Cowboys finished off the quarter with a modest 6-3 scoring advantage and after Xavier Guzman’s short jumper at the 2:08 mark, Ryan trailed, 16-10.
That is the way the first quarter ended.
The game was essentially put out of reach early in the second quarter as the Rangers went on a 12-1 run that put the Big Pasture lead at 28-11.
Guzman’s layup with 28 seconds to play in the half brought the Big Pasture lead down to 15, 32-17, and that is the way the half ended.
The Rangers continued to dominate throughout the third quarter as they outscored the Cowboys, 12-5, to obtain a 44-22 advantage at the end of the period.
Big Pasture continued to increase the lead early in the fourth quarter and the Cowboys simply did not have much left to give as the Rangers outscored Ryan, 12-4, to get the victory and move into the regional finals.
The Cowboys battled the Rangers on the board as both teams had 36 rebounds, but Ryan committed 29 turnovers to only 14 for the 11th-ranked Rangers.
Guzman led the Cowboys in scoring with 12 points and he was also the top rebounder for Ryan with nine rebounds.
It was a dismal shooting night for the Cowboys, however, as they connected on only 26% of their field goal attempts and were only four of 11 from the charity stripe.
REGIONAL TOURNEY RAMBLINGS: The Cowboys have not fared well in regional tournament play over the past few years as Ryan has now lost 15 straight games in regional tourney play….The last win in a regional tourney came in 2006 when they topped Big Pasture….The Cowboys are 31-44 in 41 appearances in the regional tourney with the first appearance coming in 1942….Ryan is now 1-1 against Big Pasture in regional tourney meetings and is 0-1 against Alex in regional tourney play….The 14 wins by the Cowboys in the 2022 season are the most since the 2017 campaign…The nine losses is tied for the fewest losses in a season since 2005 when the Cowboys lost only seven games….Lane Weldon made a return to Ryan this season to coach both the Cowboys and Cowgirls and as coach of the Cowboys Weldon has had only one losing season in 11 years….Under Weldon, the Cowboys have a 178-105 record in all games….Alexander and Jennings made their last appearance in a Cowboy basketball uniform in last Friday’s game.
Alex 60, Ryan 29
(Boys Consolation Semifinals)
Ryan 2 9 12 6—29
Alex 18 15 14 13—60
RYAN – Julian Rodriguez 4-2-12, Landen Alexander 4-0-8, Westin Jennings 2-2-6, Carsen Rodriguez 1-1-3. TOTALS: 11-5-29. PF: 11. Three-pointers: J. Rodriguez 2
ALEX – Chase Byrne 7-3-17, Ricky Thornburg 5-0-11, Conner Garrett 3-1-8, Konner Shebester 2-2-7, Kyler Boatright 2-0-6, Mason Spencer 2-0-4, Tallon Hurd 1-0-3, Nick Power 1-0-2, Jacob Compton 1-0-2. TOTALS: 24-6-60. PF: 8. Three-pointers: Boatright 2, Thornburg, Garrett, Shebester, Hurd.
Big Pasture 56, Ryan 26
(Boys Semifinals)
Ryan 10 7 5 4—26
BP 16 16 12 12—56
RYAN – Xavier Guzman 6-0-12, Mason Adsit 3-0-6, Westin Jennings 1-2-4, Julian Rodriguez 1-1-3, Landen Alexander 0-1-1. TOTALS: 11-4-2. PF: 11. Three-pointers: None.
BIG PASTURE – Lane Tinsley 6-0-12, Grayson Skocelas 4-0-0, Carson Coats 7-1-15, Aiden McCullough 3-0-9, Lance Martin 2-0-4, Hayden Tinsley 1-0-2, Dayne Rivers 1-0-2, Noah White 1-0-2. TOTALS: 25-1-56. PF: 14. Three-pointers: McCullough 3, Skocelas 2.
