The Aubrey Chaparrals faced off with the Sanger Indians on Tuesday night in a matchup that went until the final buzzer, with Sanger taking the win 58-56.
Aubrey withstood a strong shooting performance from Sanger, who went nine for 13 on 3-point shots, and kept the game close but couldn’t complete the comeback.
“We played our butts off,” Aubrey head boys basketball coach Kyle Smith said. “… We had a tough time making free throws and open shots, and they made [theirs]. At one point in the first half, they were seven out of eight from 3-point range and built a lead, [but] we fought back into the game. I’m extremely proud of how hard we played.”
The two teams traded buckets in the opening period, with the Chaps holding the slight edge 16-14 at the end of the first quarter.
Sanger started to find its shooting touch, outscoring Aubrey 19-13 in the second quarter and taking the lead 33-29 at the half.
Sanger continued to pour on the points in the second half, closing out the third quarter on a 13-9 run and taking an 8-point lead into the fourth and final quarter of play.
Aubrey found another gear in the fourth quarter, making it a 1-point game at 53-52 with under 2 minutes left in regulation, but Sanger was able to make multiple clutch shots late in the game to take the 58-56 win.
The Chaps struggled at the free throw line, going nine for 24 at the charity stripe, but Smith said he was encouraged by his team’s resilience and ability to overcome their shooting woes.
“Those free throws probably decided the game,” he said. “It’s hard to come back from another team making that many threes unless you can match it, and then on top of that we missed 15 free throws, … so to be in the game at that point takes a lot of effort. No one is upset at them because they gave everything they had.”
Senior forward Jaedon Bogar led Aubrey with 20 points, followed by senior point guard Tyler Hightower and freshman shooting guard Marquez Lucas, who both scored 15 points.
Despite the loss, Smith said the Chaps still have everything they want in front of them.
“We’re going to keep working,” he said. 'We’re going to come back tomorrow, [and] we’ll keep working. We still have a lot of district games to play, and all our goals are still out there for us. Where we want to be is in the playoffs, and we just have to keep winning and get in.”
Aubrey will return to the court to meet the Celina Bobcats at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Celina.
