Snyder rolls past Greenwood, 65-40

GREENWOOD — The Snyder Tigers made history at Ranger Gym Friday night.
After surviving Midland Greenwood’s first-quarter start, Snyder pulled away to claim a 65-40 win and clinched a share of the District 5-4A basketball championship.
Snyder (24-6, 6-0) last won a district title in 2000 and Friday’s win also secured the team the district’s top seed in the Class 4A playoffs.
“It’s an awesome feeling right now,” head coach Lee Scott said. “The players have been working hard and deserve this. They do what the coaches ask of them and play as a team. We are happy for the top seed, but not satisfied. We want to be outright district champions. I told the players to celebrate on the way home and then come back for practice and prepare to play Lake View.”
Alonzo Wesley scored 17 points for Snyder while Jayden Samaniego and Christian Gaona each had 13 points. Nathan Kendrick finished with N 10 points.
Greenwood’s Brody Ray scored the game’s first fivepoints, but Snyder used a 12-7 run to tie the game at 12-12 after the first quarter.
“We had to keep playing and not let the pressure get to us,” Wesley said. “We showed them what we can do. Greenwood was double-teamming me, but they didn’t realize we have other players who can score. It all came together for us in the second half. We want to finish it (win an outright district title) on Tuesday.”
Greenwood regained the lead early in the second quarter before Samaniego made a 3-pointer and Gaona scored on a put-back to give Snyder the lead for good.
The Rangers reduced Snyder’s lead to one point three times, but Wesley and Samaniego scored back-to-back field goals to give Snyder a 27-22 lead. The Tiger lead was 28-26 at halftime.
“That has been our story all season,” Scott said. “We didn’t get rattled and stayed focus. They figured out Greenwood’s defense. We made adjustments at halftime and executed better in the second half. When we execute like that, we are a tough team to beat.”
Snyder started the third quarter on a 7-0 run, forcing Greenwood to call a timeout trailing 35-26. The Tigers built a 54-36 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
“We continued to push the pedal and never stopped,” Scott said. “Alonzo is a great player and stayed composed against Greenwood’s defense, which was trying to keep the ball from him. He didn’t try to force anything and let his teammates score and get him the ball for shots. Alonzo played a great game and didn’t let Greenwood’s defense distract him. He did what he was supposed to do and helped the team win.”
Scott said his team’s versatility was also a factor.
“Teams sometimes overlook Jayden and cover Alonzo and ‘T’ (Teafale Lenard),” he said. “We have a lot of players who can make shots. They can’t cover just two guys. We try and force them to cover all of us.”
The team’s focus shifted to Tuesday’s home game against San Angelo Lake View. The Tigers can clinch the district title outright with a win.
“It’s a great feeling right now,” Scott said. “We will press on and not stop. We will work hard in practice for Tuesday’s game against Lake View. We are not to satisfied with this win. We want to win the next game and the outright title.”

Snyder    12    16    26    11—65
Greenwood    12    14    10      4—40
Snyder scorers — Alonzo Wesley 17, Jayden Samaniego 13, Christian Gaona 13, Nathan Kendrick 10, Teafale Lenard 8, Logan Greene 2, Talon Vandygriff 2.
Greenwood scorers — Jordan Riley 11, Brody Ray 9, Omarion Jameson 8, Cameron Jones 4, Max Montes 4, Cade Luebke 2, Ryan Snodgrass 2.
Freshmen
The Snyder freshmen defeated Greenwood, 63-53. Eber Murillo scored 28 points and Sylis Castillo had 15. 

Snyder scorers — Eber Murillo 28, Sylis Castillo 15, Cameron Smith 6, Austin Faulkenberry 5, Grayson Keele 4, Hunter Stewart 3, Freddie Martinez 2, Zach Meador 2.