Bearcats complete perfect district run

The Aledo Bearcats entered the season with lofty goals on the hardwood and, to this point, have passed with flying colors. After winning the program’s first-ever district championship a season ago, the Bearcats completed the same feat with an unblemished mark against league foes. The Bearcats finished 12-0 in district play after Friday night’s 49-37 home win over the Brewer Bears.

“I think it’s a big mental thing because it’s hard to go undefeated in district, no matter what district you’re in,” Bearcats head coach Andrew Baker said. “We talked tonight in the locker room before we came out and I told them the toughest team physically and mentally is going to win, and I think you saw that.”

Impressively, Baker led the Bearcats (26-6, 12-0) to 20 games over .500 and directed a team that defeated its district opponents by an average of 18 points per game. All but two of those wins came by double digits. Despite the impressive figures, the team knows its biggest battles remain to be fought.

“In the season, that was definitely a goal of ours, but that’s not the end goal for us,” Bearcats star senior forward Townes Van Huysen said. “The end goal for us is to go four or five rounds deep. As much as this one meant to us to go back to back, undefeated and make history, we still have more ahead of us that we want to accomplish.”

The Bearcats found themselves in a 10-2 hole early in the first quarter but closed the quarter on a 5-1 run, highlighted by a driving layup by Van Huysen with 11 seconds left. Then, Aledo opened the second quarter on a 9-2 run. Standout senior guard Enrique Pacheco ignited the run with a driving layup with 5:14 left, a short jumper 25 seconds later and then fed Van Huysen for a layup that put Aledo ahead 15-13 at the 4:04 mark. After that, junior sharpshooter Caden Cunningham buried a 3-pointer with 3:40 left to extend the lead to 18-13, forcing a Brewer timeout in the process.

“We had a shaky start, but again, it’s our response,” Baker said. “We came out the second quarter, it was, like, 19 to five. We quit turning the ball over, we settled in and we just got back to doing what we do. We’ve kind of talked about that all year, but we talked about it in a sense that we’ve got to limit those moments, like in the first quarter, where we get down and we dig a hole. Good teams in the playoffs are going to take advantage of that more so than anyone else.”

Aledo continued surging ahead with buckets from Dylan Pipkins, Cunningham, and Pacheco extending the lead to 24-16 in the final minute. Braxton Hamric provided a highlight before halftime as he cashed in on a layup following a steal and long pass from Van Huysen.

The Bearcats continued to use their suffocating defense to control the third-quarter action, entering the final eight minutes with a 42-24 advantage. With double-digit turnovers forced and plenty of fastbreak opportunities throughout the game, Aledo was playing to its formula.

“Defensively, we were extremely tough. That was one of our conversations and goals is that we want to be the toughest team defensively in the district,” Baker said. “I think the guys embraced that…we got a rough start offensively, but the defense is what got us there – it’s what propelled us and we fed off of our defense. Maybe our best performance of the season, and it’s a really good sign that we’re playing defense like that.”

Brewer managed to pull within single digits briefly late in the fourth, but Aledo was able to fend off Brewer with timely buckets and free throws down the stretch.

Van Huysen led the charge with 15 points while Cunningham netted 14 points. Pacheco tossed in six points while Hamric, Josiah Jenkins, and Grayson Isbell each had four points. Pipkins also contributed with two points.

Now, the Bearcats have their sites set forward to the postseason.

“Brewer is a hell of a team. They’re athletic, fast, and a lot like the team we’re going to play in the first round,” Van Huysen said. “I also just wanted to say thank you to our fans for coming out and showing up – they definitely showed up tonight when they didn’t have to. The baseball kids came back from Southlake and showed up in the second half. They were live, brought the energy and it helped propel us to a win in the second half.”

The Bearcats (26-6, 12-0) will now prepare for the postseason with a bi-district matchup against Denton Ryan upcoming with matchup details to be announced.