The name of the game this early in the season is all about getting game experience so the team is peaking as district play starts in a couple of weeks. For Aledo’s varsity Bearcats, a second-place finish in their own Moritz Classic over the weekend is a great indicator this young squad is on the right path.
Aledo made it through the first two rounds of the tournament with wins over Liberty Christian and Richland before making it to the championship game against the District 5-5A defending champion Brewer Bears. Returning all five starters from last season immediately makes Brewer the team to beat in the district again this year.
Despite losing to the Bears 51-40 in the championship game, Aledo head coach, JD Robinson felt good about how his young team handled their business against such a stalwart opponent.
“We did some good things,” Robinson expressed. “I was telling our guys, that’s a valuable experience getting to play arguably the best team in our league outside of districts. That’s good experience for us. did what they always do. They’re so well coached. They’re so disciplined.
“They’re tough to take the ball from and stay in front of. They’re just good in every facet of the game. They get a lead, and it’s hard to catch back up because they’re so disciplined. It was good for our guys to get to feel that and figure out what we’ve got to do to get to that point.”
Brewer started off the game utilizing their deliberate pace of play on the offensive end of the floor. The Bears pushed the ball into the paint before kicking it back out behind the three-point line multiple times as they melted large chunks of time off the clock before attempting a shot. Ball movement and patience prevailed as the visiting club waited for Aledo to make their defensive transitions a touch too late, creating open scoring opportunities for Brewer to take advantage of. Their strategy worked as designed early in the contest, as Brewer went up 7-0 before Aledo got on the board.
Once the Bearcats finally scored their first bucket of the game with 4:49 left in the first after Kaden LoBaugh laid in a high-percentage shot from the post, Aledo worked frantically to keep the Bears within striking distance. Minutes later LoBaugh hit a three-pointer from the top of the key to cut the Brewer lead to a single possession with 1:14 left in the first with the score at 11-9.
Two points ended up being the closest Aledo would get in the remainder of the game. By the time the first quarter ended, the Bearcats trailed by four. In the second quarter the Bears managed to increase their lead to six heading into halftime as they outpaced the home team, 12-10.
Coming out of the break leading 25-19, Brewer turned up the pressure at both ends of the floor. The Bearcats struggled to get shots on goal to fall in their favor on one end of the floor while the Bears seemed to be able to get nearly every shot they took to tickle the twine. The visiting club outscored Aledo 19-10 in the third frame as they enjoyed a comfortable 15-point lead with just a quarter of play standing between Brewer and a championship trophy.
“I thought early on we made some good runs,” Robinson noted. “Defensively, we’ve got to make adjustments against them. We can’t give up the baseline, or they’ll pick us apart. We did that today. We’ve got to do a better job of that.”
As time wound down, desperation and frustration began to take root for Aledo’s young team, particularly with first-year varsity guard Joaquin Pacheco. Pacheco harnessed that frustration, turning it into points on the board as he put up all seven of his points for the contest in the final 3:17. While the Bearcats came up short of a comeback, led by Pacheco’s late effort, Aledo had its most productive quarter of the game in the final stanza, scoring 11 points down the stretch.
“We did some good things,” said Robinson. “Playing inside-out is going to be good for us. I think we have an advantage inside when we’ve got two bigs on the floor versus their one. We’re going to have to be smarter when we throw the ball inside to try to get shots on goal. It was a positive experience, but we’ve got to be a lot better.”
One of the bright spots for the Bearcats in the game, in spite of the loss, was the vast improvement at the free throw line. Aledo’s struggled at the line most of the season so far. However, in the championship game they were a perfect 6-for-6, with Jack Sawyer knocking down all five of his opportunities from the charity stripe.
“We just gotta lock in, stand up there, and knock them down. There’s no secret to it. I don’t know of any free throw coaches,” Robinson joked. “You’ve just got to stand up there and knock shots down. We’re going to get better.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL | |
| Aledo | 9 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 40 |
| Brewer | 13 | 12 | 19 | 7 | 51 |
Aledo scoring: Jack Sawyer 15, Kaden LoBaugh 9, Joaquin Pacheco 7, Owen Peterson 7, Brett Barclay 2.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL | |
| Aledo | 16 | 4 | 14 | 16 | 50 |
| Richland** | - | - | - | - | 46 |
** Richland (score by quarters not available) - 46
Aledo scoring: Jack Sawyer 24, Owen Peterson 10, Joaquin Pacheco 7, Kaden LoBaugh 7, Cohen Christie 2.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | FINAL | |
| Aledo | 18 | 12 | 18 | 8 | 11 | 67 |
| Liberty | 6 | 16 | 13 | 19 | 2 | 58 |
Aledo scoring: Joaquin Pacheco 28, Jack Sawyer 14, Kaden LoBaugh 10, Jackson Todd 7, Owen Peterson 4, Brett Barclay 2, Cohen Christie 2.
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