Untimely mistakes cost Bobcats area round win in hard fought loss to No. 13 Keller
CLYDE - The San Angelo Central boys basketball team gave No. 13 Keller everything they could handle during Friday's bout at Clyde High School.
The Bobcats jumped on Keller early in the first period of Friday's 6A Region I area round playoff clash at Clyde High School but could not pull away as the Indians punished Central's mistakes at the free-throw line.
Despite self-inflicted mistakes, Central knotted the game at 21 by the end of the half against one of the state's best teams. However, mistakes hurt the Bobcats again early in the third period as the fast-paced Keller team took advantage scoring seven unanswered points. The Bobcats tried to dig out of their hole but could not complete the comeback, solidifying a 46-39 loss.
Still, Central head coach Rocky Felciano came away proud of his team's effort against the state's 13th-ranked squad.
"We had some composure for a good amount of the game," Feliciano said. "I thought 90% of the game was played even... (We played) a heck of a team and it just proves to my team that if you stick to a game plan and believe in each other, you have a shot any night."
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Central (25-12) earned its shot against Keller beating El Paso Franklin for its first Bi-District Championship in 12 years at Andrews High School on Tuesday. So, regardless of Friday's outcome, first-year head coach Feliciano saw this season as a success.
"Them winning the Bi-District Championship was something we talked about all year," Feliciano said. "I'm glad these seniors got to experience that. I'm glad some of these young ones got this playoff experience to be playing in the second round in a game for the full four quarters will pay dividends down the road for them."
The Bobcats were the third team this season to hold Keller to less than 50 points in a game, which came after a strong start from Central taking a 15-11 at the end of the first period. Angelo State commit Kollin Allbright scored seven of his team-high 13 points putting Keller on its heels early.
"He was one of our core guys," Feliciano said. "He was definitely our anchor on defense... we funneled everything to him and he just came out and showed his length which gave (Keller) problems for the whole game."
The second and third quarters turned the game sideways for Central. After a hot start, the Bobcats scored six points in both quarters and committed 10 penalties, which gave Keller an opening to crawl ahead despite an off-shooting performance.
Junior guard Christian "Squeaky" English took over offensively for the Bobcats in the fourth quarter scoring nine of his 11 total points, but once again, eight fourth-quarter fouls kept the Indians ahead and out of striking distance.
"I thought we lost the game in a three-minute stretch in the third quarter," Feliciano said. "And they got that seven-point lead and kind of just maintained it from then on. But hats off to my guys, I can guarantee there's a lot of people around the state not giving us a chance."
6A Area round game
BOYS
Keller 46, San Angelo Central 39
Keller 11 10 13 12 - 46
Central 15 6 6 12 - 39
Central (25-11): TK Taylor 6, Trey Allen 3, Hayden Schmidt 6, Christian "Squeaky" English 11, Kollin Allbright 13.
This article originally appeared on San Angelo Standard-Times: Mistakes cost Central basketball area round win against No. 13 Keller
