By Spencer Spilman
The Hays Rebels locked up a share of the 14-6A district championship after an exciting come-from-behind 77-62 win against the Del Valle Cardinals Tuesday on senior night.
Del Valle offense got hot in the first quarter and jumped out to a 20-10 lead.
Leading Del Valle was Kareem Chever who had 17 points. Romeo Boatswain and Dayante McClellan both had 15 points.
Hays battled back in the second quarter, outscoring the Cardinals and cutting the deficit to just five points going into halftime.
Rebels’ senior point guard Jerome Scaturro talked to his team in the locker room and challenged them to step up.
“We had a senior meeting at halftime. Our last home game, playing for first place in district. We can’t lose this game,” said Scaturro.
The rest of the team listened, and they turned it around in the second half.
Jake Krafka knocked down several three pointers, as did Scaturro. Heath Agnew dominated in the paint, but also showed his range, knocking down two three pointers of his own. Agnew finished with 17 points.
Krafka was confident in the team going into the playoffs. He finished with 13 points off the bench.
“When we play like we play, nobody can beat us in the state, which really helps us out going into playoffs,” he said.
The star of the game was sophomore Charles Bohannon. He led the Rebels with 23 points, and he was clutch from the free-throw line late in the game.
“It was a team goal of ours all year to win the district,” Bohannon said. “I’m just so happy for the seniors that we could accomplish that.”
The Rebels outscored Del Valle 50-30 in the second half, largely because of the way its defense played. Hays’ coach Sam Lunz was happy with the way his team adjusted after falling behind early.
“Everything we talked about was about defense,” Lunz said. “Our offense comes when our defense does what it’s supposed to.”
Hays dominated the final three minutes, forcing bad shots from the Cardinals. They took the ball away which led to fast-break points on the offensive end.
After a long season, Lunz was extremely proud of his team after accomplishing their goal of winning the district.
“It’s a testament of their character. We have a pretty solid group of seven seniors. They’re unselfish and they play for each other, so it feels really good to see them succeed,” he said.
Now tied with Lake Travis for the district lead, Hays awaits the outcome of a tiebreaker to determine playoff seeding. Boys basketball playoffs begin on Feb. 23 or 24.
