CLEBURNE —
After playing a competitive first half against Crowley on Friday night at Jeff D. Cody Gymnasium, the Cleburne Yellow Jackets were outscored 16-1 in the third quarter as the Eagles rolled to a 52-36 win. The loss sends the Jackets to 2-3 in District 8-4A and the Eagles moved up to 4-1.
Cleburne hung tough with the much bigger and more athletic Crowley team as the Jackets trailed 10-9 after the first quarter and 23-20 at halftime. But over the course of the final minute of the first half and the entire third quarter, the Eagles went on a 19-1 run to pull away for good.
Turnovers and rebounds were the primary two culprits in the Jackets’ loss.
“There’s always something,” Cleburne Coach Jimmy Littleton said. “We played a pretty good first half, controlled the tempo a little bit like we thought we could and should. We knew we couldn’t do anything getting up and down the court with their athleticism. We stayed in the game the whole first half. Then we came out in the third quarter and we just threw the ball away, only scored one point in the whole quarter, and that was the game.”
The Eagles out-rebounded Cleburne 39-16 and the Jackets committed 24 turnovers.
“Turnovers were bad, but the rebounds killed us,” Littleton said. “They just out-rebounded us. With their length and athleticism, we did not do one thing to control that. We didn’t block anybody out and they just played volleyball on the rim all night, tipping it and tipping it. If you don’t block out, you don’t win the game and it doesn’t matter who you play. We didn’t do what we needed to do to win the game.”
Crowley had one player listed at 6-foot-8, one at 6-foot-7 and three at 6-foot-4. The Jackets’ tallest player checks in at 6-foot-2.
Ryan Kirk and Marc Murillo got the Jackets off to a quick start as the two teams battled back and forth during the first two quarters. But the size and athleticism of Crowley proved too much over the course of the game.
Kirk and Murillo were the only Jackets to pull down more than one rebound. Kirk scored six points and had a team-high six rebounds while Murillo scored nine points and had five rebounds.
Eli Upchurch led the Jackets with 12 points, two steals and three assists.
Both teams shot 30 percent from the floor, but the difference in rebounds allowed the Eagles to out-shoot Cleburne by 21 field goal attempts.
Kyle Wilson led the Eagles with 11 points and nine rebounds.
Cleburne returns to action at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Everman.
Sports
Related Photos
-
Eli Upchurch (3) led the Jackets with a game-high 12 points, but it wasn’t enough as the Eagles sent Cleburne to 2-3 in district play with a 52-36 loss Friday night at Jeff D. Cody Gymnasium. David Beans/Special to the CTR
Discussion
Third quarter struggles send Jackets to 52-36 loss
Crowley outscores Cleburne 16-1 in third quarter
- Sports
-
-
Coward named Scholar Athlete of the Week
Cleburne quarterback and first baseman Quade Coward can now add TV star to his senior accomplishments, as the latest high school student to be named by sportscaster Dale Hansen as the Scholar Athlete of the Week.
-
Zebras drop game 1 against Hughes Springs in semis
Grandview experienced first-hand what the No. 1 ranked team in the state looks like as undefeated Hughes Springs opened the Class 2A regional semifinals with a 9-2 win in game 1 of a best-of-three series.
-
Cleburne ISD names new athletic director
Cleburne ISD officials announced at a called meeting Thursday they had hired Pamela Lea as the district’s new athletic director.
-
CISD to sponsor fan bus for Saturday's playoff game
The Cleburne Independent School District will sponsor a “Fan Bus” for Saturday’s Class 4A regional semifinal playoff game in Abilene as the Cleburne Yellow Jackets compete against the Frenship Tigers.
-
Cleburne takes on Wolfforth Frenship in regional semifinals
Cleburne prepares for Wolfforth Frenship in the Class 4A regional semifinals on Friday.
-
Zebras face No. 1 ranked Mustangs in regional semis
Grandview faces the No. 1 ranked Hughes Springs Mustangs in the Class 2A regional semifinals starting Thursday in Tyler.
-
Grandview leads all-district softball selections
The Grandview Lady Zebras, who won their fourth consecutive district title this season, dominated the all-district selections for District 10-2A.
-
Yellow Jacket to continue soccer career in West Virginia
Cleburne senior Bryson Bailey, a key member to the Cleburne Yellow Jacket soccer team, will continue his soccer career at the next level.
-
Godley senior becomes first tennis player to sign with college program
Godley senior Casey Bell became the first Wildcat ever to sign a letter of intent to play tennis at the collegiate level as he signed with the University of the Southwest in New Mexico.
-
Indians fall to Stephenville in regional quarters
Alvarado dropped games 2 and 3 today in their Class 3A regional quarterfinals at home to end the Indians' season.
- More Sports Headlines
-
