Tigers fall to Abilene Wylie in 56-52 thriller

A couple shots made all the difference in the Snyder Tigers’ 56-52 loss to Abilene Wylie Friday.
Snyder head coach Lee Scott knew the game would be a challenge for his team and despite coming just a few points short, was very positive about his team’s performance.
“We played our tails off and did what we needed to do,” he said. “We made this schedule tough so that we will be ready for these types of situations come district.”
Abilene Wylie scored the games’ first five points before the Tiger offense got rolling. Junior Zach Miller scored seven of the Tigers’ first nine points as they responded with a 9-2 run of their own.
Snyder senior Teafale Lenard put a stamp on that run when he broke free for back-to-back slam dunks before the end of the quarter, sending the Tigers into the second quarter with momentum and a 13-10 lead.
Junior Michael Jaramillo sank a 3-pointer in the first few seconds of the second quarter. Wylie battled its way back to tie the game at 18-18 before Snyder senior Corey Landin broke the tie with a 3-pointer.
That led to a 7-2 Tiger run to close out the half, and a 28-20 halftime lead.
In the third quarter, Abilene Wylie senior Payton Brooks began to connect from deep. His 3-point shooting helped point the Bulldogs’ offense in the right direction, but the Tigers managed to keep pace thanks to senior Jayden Samaniego’s red hot shooting.
Samaniego scored the Tigers’ final seven points of the third quarter and the Tigers held on 39-38 heading into the final quarter.
Wylie took the lead early in the quarter before Samaniego responded with a contested 3-pointer to reclaim the lead. The two teams would exchange blows and the lead over the next few minutes until the final 30 seconds, when a Miller rebound and putback gave the Tigers a 53-52 lead.
The Bulldogs reclaimed the lead on a contested jump shot, 54-53. After the Tigers just missed reclaiming the lead when a Jaramillo layup bounced around the rim and out, Abilene Wylie’s Brooks went 2-2 from the free throw line to make it a four-point game.
With just seven seconds left on the clock, the Tigers failed to make a miraculous comeback and the Bulldogs walked away with a 56-52 win.
“We played with great effort the whole game,” Scott said following the close loss. “There are some things we have to tweak and fix. But, they had to make some tough shots to beat us and it was over Zach (Miller)’s hand, so it wasn’t like it was an easy shot. We played strong, hard defense and made it tough on them. These guys are fighting and getting after it.”
With the loss, the Tigers drop to 7-8 on the year, but they still have plenty of positives going for them, one being junior post player Zach Miller’s breakout season. The junior has emerged as a solid scoring option for the Tigers, complimenting guards Lenard and Samaniego, giving the Tigers options both on the edgers and in the paint.
Miller started to show his playmaking ability early in the year before a break-out, 23-point performance in a 57-43 win over Hereford earlier this season. Since then, he has gone on to post double digit points and rebounds on a nightly basis.
“Zach has worked his tail off. Since his JV season last year, Zach has been one of our hardest workers,” Scott said. “He has put his heart and determination in it and it shows. He goes out there and he is a threat. They have to worry about him scoring down low. They now have to worry about our guards and the post. It makes things wide open.”
The Tigers will enjoy the Christmas break before playing host for the Canyon Reef Basketball Tournament in Snyder, which is set to start on Dec. 30.