Phantom Stang
02-24-2006, 07:20 PM
SW, Borger battle in 3A area playoff
By RON HOWELL/Reporter Sports Editor
With only a 9-17 record, it's safe to say that there haven't been many times this season when the Sweetwater boys basketball team was able to win without playing at a high level.
But according to head coach Jason Petty, the Mustangs weren't at their best when they beat Fort Stockton, 44-33, this past Tuesday in bi-district. Sweetwater won by playing solid, scrappy defense and using its size advantage over the smaller Panthers to make up for a less-than-stel-lar offensive effort.
Petty knows the Mustangs must execute a lot better to defeat Borger (19-11) in the Class 3A area playoffs today. The game begins at 7:30 p.m. at Lubbock Christian University's Rip Griffin Center. The Sweetwater-Borger survivor will advance to the regional quarterfinals to face either Muleshoe or Seminole, who also play at Rip Griffin Center beginning at 6 p.m. today.
“We need to do better than we did Tuesday, and I think we will,” Petty said. “We had poor ex-ecution against Fort Stockton, but we played so hard that we made up for some mistakes. We need to continue to play good defense. If we have better execution, I think we'll have success.”
Borger is the District 1-3A champion and got a first-round playoff bye after winning a tiebreaker game with Canyon this past Friday.
Petty said he has a “tremendous” amount of respect for the Bulldogs, but doesn't necessarily consider his team an underdog. “I think we're confident,” he said. “These guys don't ever just go out there just to put up a good fight. They expect to win or go down fighting, and if they play well, we'll be tough to beat.”
Sweetwater's record, of course, is deceptive as it was second in District 4-3A behind Wylie and ahead of Clyde, who are both still in the playoffs.
Borger is considerably taller than Fort Stock-ton, and relies heavily on the inside play of posts Nathan Purswell and Jason Kerr. But the Bull-dogs also have good outside shooters and they score a lot in transition, Petty said.
This will be Sweetwater's second trip to Lub-bock Christian and a win today could set up a rematch with Muleshoe, which edged the Mus-tangs 61-59 in a non-district game on Jan. 27.
Two Sweetwater players, guard Kendal Car-rillo (sprained ankle) and post Russell Clayton (bruised knee), are nursing injuries but are ex-pected to play, according to Petty. Carrillo is the team's No. 2 scorer this year behind only post Eric Emerson, who averages 17 points a game.
Copyright © 2006 Sweetwater Reporter
By RON HOWELL/Reporter Sports Editor
With only a 9-17 record, it's safe to say that there haven't been many times this season when the Sweetwater boys basketball team was able to win without playing at a high level.
But according to head coach Jason Petty, the Mustangs weren't at their best when they beat Fort Stockton, 44-33, this past Tuesday in bi-district. Sweetwater won by playing solid, scrappy defense and using its size advantage over the smaller Panthers to make up for a less-than-stel-lar offensive effort.
Petty knows the Mustangs must execute a lot better to defeat Borger (19-11) in the Class 3A area playoffs today. The game begins at 7:30 p.m. at Lubbock Christian University's Rip Griffin Center. The Sweetwater-Borger survivor will advance to the regional quarterfinals to face either Muleshoe or Seminole, who also play at Rip Griffin Center beginning at 6 p.m. today.
“We need to do better than we did Tuesday, and I think we will,” Petty said. “We had poor ex-ecution against Fort Stockton, but we played so hard that we made up for some mistakes. We need to continue to play good defense. If we have better execution, I think we'll have success.”
Borger is the District 1-3A champion and got a first-round playoff bye after winning a tiebreaker game with Canyon this past Friday.
Petty said he has a “tremendous” amount of respect for the Bulldogs, but doesn't necessarily consider his team an underdog. “I think we're confident,” he said. “These guys don't ever just go out there just to put up a good fight. They expect to win or go down fighting, and if they play well, we'll be tough to beat.”
Sweetwater's record, of course, is deceptive as it was second in District 4-3A behind Wylie and ahead of Clyde, who are both still in the playoffs.
Borger is considerably taller than Fort Stock-ton, and relies heavily on the inside play of posts Nathan Purswell and Jason Kerr. But the Bull-dogs also have good outside shooters and they score a lot in transition, Petty said.
This will be Sweetwater's second trip to Lub-bock Christian and a win today could set up a rematch with Muleshoe, which edged the Mus-tangs 61-59 in a non-district game on Jan. 27.
Two Sweetwater players, guard Kendal Car-rillo (sprained ankle) and post Russell Clayton (bruised knee), are nursing injuries but are ex-pected to play, according to Petty. Carrillo is the team's No. 2 scorer this year behind only post Eric Emerson, who averages 17 points a game.
Copyright © 2006 Sweetwater Reporter