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Snyder post player Andres Medina (55) scores against Levelland’s Jeremy Parsley during the second half of Friday’s game. The Tigers lost to Levelland, 43-38.
Snyder never came up with answers for Levelland’s zone defense and clutch free-throw shooting in the final 71 seconds at Tiger Gym Friday.
Levelland’s Kentton Williams made one free throw to break a 37-37 tie, which led the Lobos to a 43-38 win in a District 2-4A basketball game.
Dralon Jackson made a 15-foot jump shot with 1:26 left to tie the game. The Lobos (15-9, 2-1) used three defensive stops and made five free throws to claim the win.
Snyder head coach Lee Scott said Levelland came out in a different zone defense that caught the Tigers by surprise.
“Levelland hadn’t shown that defense this season and it surprised us,” Scott said. “We did a good job of attacking the zone, but we couldn’t get a shooter open. We got one shot from the corner and missed. We battled hard, but couldn’t make enough shots.”
Abram Smith led Snyder (17-7, 0-3) with 16 points and Jackson added 11.
“Abram had a great game and we need him to play that way more often,” Scott said. “He crashed the boards and held Levelland’s leading scorer (Williams) to nine points.”
Nick Gerber scored 13 points for Levelland while Kendall Durrett had 10 points,
Levelland started the game on a 7-0 run. The Lobos increased the lead to 14-5 going into the second quarter.
Snyder trailed by 11 points for most of the quarter. The Tigers pulled to within 20-13 when Andres Medina made one free throw and Smith scored on a putback.
Williams ended the first half with a breakaway dunk to give the Lobos a 24-15 lead.
Snyder trailed 28-16 early in the third quarter. Smith led an 8-0 run with two field goals while Medina scored on an inside move and Chris Depaz made two free throws. That run cut the deficit to 28-24.
The Lobos answered with a field goal by Williams, but Snyder scored six unanswered points to tie the game at 30-30 going into the fourth quarter.
“Our defense started the third quarter run with stops and we rebounded better,” Scott said. “We got layups and scored on offensive rebounds. The crowd also got more into the game.”
Medina came off the bench to give the Tigers a lift.
“Andres played well in the third quarter,” Scott said. “He had rebounds and took one charging foul. He didn’t do anything wrong when he came out. We went with our quicker lineup for a better matchup. Andres did his job and played well.”
Scott said the fourth quarter was the difference in the game.
“When we don’t make shots, we must continue to get defensive stops,” Scott said. “When you hold a team to 43 points, you have a good chance to win. We had a tough fourth quarter.”
Snyder trails Sweetwater and Big Spring, which are tied for fourth place, by one game in the district standings. The Tigers will play at Sweetwater Tuesday.
“We’re not out of it (playoff chase) yet,” Scott said. “We’ve got seven games to go. We need to get rolling by winning the next two games and be 2-3 going into the second half of the district. We need to shoot free throws better (12-of-21 against Levelland). It didn’t cost us the game because we need to do other things better.”
Levelland 14 10 16 13—43
Snyder 5 10 15 8 ––38
Levelland scorers — Nick Gerber 13, Kendall Durrett 10, Kentton Williams 9, Cameron Gonzales 4, Jeff Elliott 2, Jeremy Parsley 2, Dillan Bontrager 2, Kegan Dent 1.
Snyder scorers — Abram Smith 16, Dralon Jackson 11, Chris Depaz 6, Andres Medina 3, Rodrigo Rodriguez 1, Dillon Scott 1.