Lobo basketball posts impressive win at Lockhart

by MARK CAUL

Despite their recent struggles with injuries, the Lehman boys basketball team began District 17-4A play on a high note as senior forward Jonathan Garrion powered the Lobos to a huge first quarter lead that they never relinquished in a 59-44 romp over Lockhart.

The Lehman boys basketball team shot out of the gate quickly in District 17-4A play with an impressive 59-44 romp against Lockhart. PHOTO by JUDY COOPER

Garrion got on track early scoring eight of his game-high 24 points inside while junior Dane Peddycoart buried a couple of jumpers as the Lobos surged to an early 21-6 lead.

Acker believed his team stayed aggressive defensively even after they built the early advantage.

“For the most part we did a great job defensively early in the game,” said Acker. “There were a couple of times where we made a couple of bad decisions with the ball and our defense wasn’t very good but I thought we worked very hard.”

The Lobos lead ballooned to 29-11 midway through the second quarter as their aggressive pressure-style defense forced Lockhart into numerous turnovers. In addition, post Adam Woodworth and Garrion were very effective on the defensive boards, limiting the Lions to a single shot on many of their offensive trips in the first half which left the frustrated Lions fighting an uphill battle.
Lehman built a 33-17 lead at intermission.

For many of the Lobos, it was the result of a tough week of practice spent focusing primarily on rebounding.
“Coach (Acker) has been trying to get us to do a better job of rebounding, so that’s what we tried to focus on,” Garrion said. “It was important for us to keep them off the glass.”

Lockhart went on a quick 8-0 run to open the second half, closing within 33-25 behind buckets from Dustin Watkins, Sergio Juarez and Joesph Gonzales.

But after Acker signaled for a quick timeout, Garrion went to work again, first scoring on scoop shot from close range and then following that up with an easy bank shot. Then, on the next possession, Carson fed Peddycoart for a short jumper inside the lane to further distance the Lobos from Lockhart 41-25 and Lehman was never threatened again.

Watkins finished with 10 points to pace the Lions while Juarez and Gonzales each added eight points in the losing cause.

The Lobos recorded their eighth consecutive win over Lockhart and also got an added adrenaline rush from the return of sophomore wing Charles Williams, who saw his first extended action of the season.

“We weren’t sure if we would have Charles for this game until we got on the court but he felt fine after going through pre-game warm-ups so we went ahead and played him,” Acker said. “It was good to finally get Charles back into the mix because he is by far our toughest competitor and brings a level of intensity to our team.”

Williams finished with six points for the Lobos.

Acker is also confident that senior Anthony Bradshaw, who has only played briefly in one game this season, will be ready to take the court before district play resumes.

“I’m hoping that Anthony doesn’t have any more setbacks in his recovery and will be able to go once we play Manor (Jan. 8),” said Acker. “He has been able to do some running and light stuff but with the long delay between games we have coming up, I think that will give him an opportunity to come back strong.”

After taking part in the annual Sinton High School Rotary Classic in Corpus Christi, the Lobos will host Austin Lanier in their final district tune-up on Saturday afternoon.