Columbia cagers routed by Houston Yates in bi-district playoff game
From the Brazosport Facts
HOUSTON — The Columbia Roughnecks quickly learned the difference between being the fourth-best team in district and the fourth-best Class 4A team in Texas.
Houston Yates ran the Roughnecks out of Barnett Fieldhouse and the Region III boys basketball playoffs Monday night with a 141-34 bidistrict round victory.
The Lions double-teamed the ’Necks from the opening whistle and quickly scored three baskets off turnovers. Columbia had seven turnovers in the opening two minutes and finished with 14 in the first eight minutes of play.
“Sometime in the spring last year when we saw the realignment, we made it a mission not to get fourth and unfortunately we fell a bit short,” Columbia coach Henry Valladares said. “But that was the result and that is what happens.
“Is that embarrassing? Of course, but at the same time, I am proud of my players for playing hard and finishing the game. It is hard to teach, so I don’t have to preach to them about playing hard and finishing. But we don’t want to go through this again next year.”
The Lions had a rough start from the field and the Roughnecks collected a bunch of defensive rebounds, only to struggle to get the ball out of their side of the court. That suffocating defense robbed Columbia of both the ball and its spirit.
Six Lions scored as they put up a 32-8 advantage in the first quarter, led by nine points from Jaquoris Valrie, six from Carnal August and five from Kayden Rose.
Cameron Ward, Columbia’s leading scorer, found himself quickly surrounded by two or three Lions whenever he touched the ball and went scoreless in the opening stanza.
“For the most part, it is hard to simulate and prepare for something like that,” Valladares said. “But that is their system, and I am sure they implement it from the junior high up and that is the way they play. You can watch all of the film or watch them in person, but when you get on the court, one of my players made a comment saying he felt like they had six players out there.”
Yates didn’t let up in the second quarter, putting another 34 points on the scoreboard with point guard Antwon Norman exploding for 12, including a pair of 3-pointers. August added a pair of treys from the same spot on the wing as he netted eight points.
Ward finally got on the board for the Roughnecks, who managed seven points and had another 11 turnovers to give them 25 for the first half.
A halftime pow-wow didn’t do much for Columbia as the Lions kept rolling. Valrie did the most damage in the third period with 18 points, and Yates had a 104-21 lead into the final eight minutes of play.
At one point, Valladares asked the timekeeper to go to a running clock, but the head referee disallowed that notion.
Ward had 11 points to lead the Roughnecks, who finish the season at 10-18 overall.
Yates was led by Valrie’s 27 points. Norman and Marc Batts each had 23 and August contributed 22.
The Lions will face either Hardin-Jefferson or Livingston next.
