In a disappointing performance at home Tuesday night Hays basketball lost its second game of the season to the Bowie Bulldogs by a score of 63-41, dropping the Rebels to a 4-5 record in 6A District-25.

Everything seemed to go wrong for the Rebels after they started the game up 9-2 on the Bulldogs in the first quarter, but then were outscored by Bowie 27-9 over the next 12 minutes of play before going into halftime.

Missed shots and lack of rebounding by the Rebels were the two biggest issues, according to Hays head basketball coach Matthew Sandoval.

“Rebounding and hustle, we didn’t hit shots either so that didn’t help,” Sandoval said about what went wrong during the game. “But there is no excuse for not boxing out, not rebounding, fifty-fifty balls, they got every loose ball. I mean you’ve got to want it, you’ve got to want the loose balls. It was embarrassing to watch.”

Hays offense became stagnant in the second and third quarters only scoring 12 total points, while the Bulldogs offense exploded for 34 points. Missed layups and 11 turnovers in the two quarters plagued the Rebels offensive execution.

“We missed a lot of layups, and that cost us some transition buckets,” Sandoval said. “I mean so not only were we not hitting shots, but we weren’t hitting layups. Some of them were forced, but it was just one of those things where you got to make your layups.”

As a team Hays shot 5-of-18 from beyond the arc, 27.8%, and only managed to get to the free throw line five times (2-of-5) for the game. On the other end Bowie shot 5-of-14 from three point range, 35.7%, and made 12-of-20 from the free throw line.

On the boards, the Bulldogs simply out muscled the Rebels by out-rebounding them 32-21 across the four quarters.

“The first game they out-rebounded us and I was hoping the bigger lineup would help us, but no, it did not,” Sandoval said. “Not in the area that we needed it to help.”

Hays junior guard Will Agnew led the team with 11 points, while adding five rebounds and four assists. Senior guard Caden Doyle had 10 points for the game, and junior guard Durand Hill contributed nine points and five rebounds.

For Bowie, junior guard Coleton Benson led all scorers with 24 points and seven rebounds.

With the loss the Rebels are on the outside looking in for the playoff picture in District-25. With a 15-9 overall record and 4-5 in district, Hays sits in fifth place with only six games remaining. Westlake holds first place at 9-0, with Anderson in second at 7-1. Bowie controls third place with a 5-4 record, with Lake Travis just behind them with a 4-4 record.

“We need to keep practicing hard, stay focused and just stay on it,” Sandoval said. “One game doesn’t define your year. You know they (Bowie) are a good team. They showed us exactly what our weaknesses are, and the good thing is they are correctable mistakes to a degree. It’s on us to correct them.”

Hays will look to get back on track with a road game this Friday versus Austin Akins (2-6) at 7:30 p.m.