Balanced Bearcats ease past Saginaw

As they have in their previous eight league contests, the Bearcats performed brilliantly and showcased depth and balance on both sides of the ball. Aledo outscored Saginaw 41-21 across the second and third quarters to help secure a 71-55 victory.

“They’ve been very consistent,” Bearcats head coach Andrew Baker said. “There’s not a lot of ups and downs, and that’s been really good for us. I mean, one of our superpowers is that they’ve been really resilient and very consistent.”

Aledo held a 14-10 lead through one quarter, but got plenty of contributions as its lead began to balloon. Dylan Pipkins found a cutting Caden Cunningham for a layup with 7:01 left before halftime for an 18-10 advantage and senior forward Townes Van Huysen followed that up with his own inside bucket at the 5:38 mark that gave Aledo its first double-digit lead at 20-10.

Later in the frame, Cunningham started to sizzle from deep as he connected from long range on back-to-back possessions – the last coming with 2:09 left – to extend the home team’s lead to 28-16. Josiah Jenkins and Enrique Pacheco helped Aledo race to the halftime locker rooms with a 33-22 advantage as the former collected a steal and scored on the other end with 56 seconds and the latter draining a 3-pointer with 12 seconds left.

“That’s probably the biggest reason we’re this far,” Pacheco said of Aledo’s depth. “Last year was, you know, one guy has the ball in his hands and everyone else kind of got out of the way, and we were only five deep. This year, we can get six to eight guys to come in and perform just as well as the starters.”

Van Huysen opened the third quarter with five quick points, with his 3-pointer stretching Aledo’s advantage to 38-24 with 6:52 remaining. Pacheco then fed Pipkins for a corner 3-pointer with 6:02 to go, and Pipkins passed the rock to Cunningham for his own triple that pushed the Aledo lead to 20 points at 46-26 with 4:46 left. Pacheco nailed another triple with 1:37 left and Cooper Hull scored off a steal by Pipkins with 51 seconds left. Hull’s layup put the score at 55-31, which held up as the margin at the end of the frame.

“With our culture and identity, we know who we are and the guys know who they are on the court,” Baker said. “I think that’s what we have to attribute our success to, and we’ve got some good senior leadership along with some young kids who have been about it. Having that mix has been really good.”

Aledo kept its winning formula intact and held onto its sizable lead throughout the final eight minutes of action. Baker noted contributions from players such as Grayson Isbell, Braxton Hamric and Hull – among others – who provide physical tools and skills that contribute to the team’s overall offensive continuity and defensive versatility.

“We just talked in the locker room. We had 10 guys play and all 10 of them played decent minutes, right?” Baker said. “Your bench is not going to get as much as your starting group, but they all play and other teams in the district don’t have that, which is kind of a luxury that we have 10 guys we could put out there. What impressed me was there wasn’t a lot of drop off with that.”

While Aledo (23-6, 9-0) looks poised for its second consecutive district-championship season, the team’s goals remain lofty with its eyes still on the prize.

“We’re confident that we’re going to go undefeated in district and hopefully go three, four rounds deep into the playoffs,” Pacheco said. “We all have 100 percent confidence in ourselves and our team.”

Successful seasons like this are helpful both right now and for the future, and the players remain eager to capitalize on that and help continue to lay down a strong foundation for the program.

“It helps a bunch, especially towards the younger guys because they’re going to go up against bigger, better competition next year,” Pacheco said. “It’ll be a good experience for our coaches, you know, getting new guys and having experience with returning guys. Getting reps with these district games, close ones or blow outs, just gives a lot of experience and opportunities to everyone.”

Van Huysen scored a team-high 21 points while Pacheco (19) and Cunningham (17) also scored in double figures. Jenkins added five points while Hull scored four. Pipkins chipped in with three while Crew Bates had two.

Aledo will take the court again at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Granbury. The Bearcats currently hold a three-game district lead and need one more victory to clinch.