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December 30, 2007

Eagles soar over Jackets

Cleburne 0-4 in holiday tournament

By Jennifer Tavlian/sports@trcle.com

MINERAL WELLS — “It’s a tough loss,” Cleburne head coach Jeff Cody said following a 58-57 loss to Abilene High in the final game of the Mineral Wells Holiday Hoops Tournament on Saturday.

Cleburne (11-9, 2-0) held a 13-3 lead at the end of the first quarter, but was outscored 23-14 in the second quarter thanks to three 3-pointers by the Eagles’ Kortney McDow.

“I thought the second quarter was what killed us,” Cody said. “We got down by seven and battled back, but everyone knew No. 23 [McDow] could shoot the ball. We had a chance to take a charge there at the end, but when you make the mistakes we made for 31 minutes and 59 seconds, one play doesn’t win or lose a ball game.

“We have got to make sure we take care of business in the second and third quarters and quit making mistakes. It’s just got to stop.”

McDow finished the game with five of Abilene’s six 3-pointers.

Despite the Eagles’ second quarter, Cleburne held a 27-26 lead at halftime that expanded early in the third quarter with a layup and two free throws by Jared Hance.

Ethan Anderson’s jumper answered a free throw by Abilene before McDow hit another 3-pointer to pull the Eagles within a point.

DeSean Thomas scored on a jumper before the Eagles hit another 3-pointer along with a layup to pull ahead by two points.

A layup and a free throw gave Abilene a five-point lead, but Anderson trimmed the lead to two with a jumper.

The Eagles earned a trip to the line after a layup to put three more points on the board, and a floater gave Abilene a 45-38 lead.

Anderson scored four points and Ricky Aly added a 3-pointer in the final two minutes of the third quarter, but a pair of layups and a long 2-pointer at the buzzer kept Abilene in front, 51-45.

Aly hit a quick 3-pointer to start the fourth quarter, and two free throws from Anderson pulled the Jackets within a point.

Abilene hit a jumper, but Hance answered with a layup and a free throw to tie the game with 4:43 on the clock.

Anderson’s layup gave the Jackets their first lead since the 3:44 mark in the third quarter, but the lead was erased 1:04 later when a jumper tied the game at 55.

Abilene hit 1-of-2 free throws with 1:09 remaining and held the lead until Aly swished home a long 2-pointer with 22 seconds left in the game to put the Jackets in front by a point.

With three seconds left on the clock, a finger roll sealed the victory for the Eagles, who earned seventh place in the tournament.

Anderson finished the game with 23 points and 12 rebounds along with a steal and two blocks.

Hance scored 14 points and eight rebounds along with one blocked shot while Aly recorded 14 points and one rebound.

Thomas finished the game with four points, and Jacob Windell added two points.

Mikel Boston led the team with two steals.

Cody remains one win from the 800th of his career. The Jackets will have a chance to earn the milestone victory for Cody and break a four-game losing streak Friday when they host Crowley. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m.

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