Wall boys basketball's Augden Hallmark shows up in the clutch in win over Jim Ned
WALL — Augden Hallmark is used to clutch moments.
In a tightly contested game, Wall boys basketball's Hallmark was fouled after an inbounds pass up two points against district rival Jim Ned with less than 15 seconds remaining in the game. If he hit the two free throws, it would essentially ice the game for the No. 20 Hawks and keep them undefeated and atop District 6-3A.
Hallmark walked up to the line, sank both free throws and ran down the court shushing the opposing crowd as he returned on defense.
Jim Ned (19-6, 4-2) got two more looks at a 3-pointer before time expired, but missed both as Wall (17-6, 5-0) took the first matchup 60-56 at Wall High School on Tuesday.
"We really weren't expected to win this one," Hallmark said. "And to be able to pull this out meant a whole lot for everybody and I'm just gonna say good job to all my teammates because we couldn't have done this without each other."
Hallmark is one of the senior leaders on Wall and is one of the many athletes at the school who excels at multiple sports. He is the baseball team's starting shortstop who made a trip to the Class 3A Championship game last season, but fell just short after a magical postseason run. Starting forward Logan Thomas and forward Brylan White just finished a postseason run for the football team, missing a good chunk to the beginning of the basketball season.
"I feel like we're still getting better," Wall coach Travis Dawson said. "Because we probably haven't had 20 practices still with everybody. So, I feel like we're still improving and we're still finding our rhythm together. And tonight you really saw that on the offensive side."
While missing time playing other sports might slow down the cohesion of the basketball team, it gives the athletes more experience to perform well in clutch moments.
"It's a big honor to have the trust from my coaches to get me the ball," Hallmark said. "Really it's no big deal for me. I drown out everything (else) and it means a lot to have them put the game on me."
Wall travels to San Angelo TLCA this Friday for a matchup with another team that saw time in the TABC sate rankings earlier in the season, while Jim Ned takes on Ballinger at home.
District 6-3A
BOYS
Wall 60, Jim Ned 56
Wall 16 12 19 13 - 60
Jim Ned 11 18 15 12 - 56
Wall (17-6, 5-0): Jack Duncan 2, Jager Thompson 11, Lane Stansberry 15, Brylan White 7, Augden Hallmark 16, Logan Thomas 9.
Jim Ned (19-6, 4-2): Wyatt Nickson 13, Carter Wood 5, Colt Lindsey 2, Hank Ritter 19, Carter Lange 18.
GIRLS
Jim Ned 51, Wall 27
Jim Ned 16 13 18 4 - 51
Wall 3 11 9 4 - 27
Wall (17-7, 6-2): Kennedi Graves 6, Brylyn Watts 8, Katelynn Holtman 6, Erin Morrison 4, Bree Gallant 3.
Jim Ned (25-2, 8-0) Emma Doran 2, Lexi Wisehert 13, Gracee Cooley 9, Madison Ford 1, Riley Grohman 17, McKenzy Morgan 9.
This article originally appeared on San Angelo Standard-Times: HS basketball: Wall's clutch free throws seal win against Jim Ned
