Lorenzo Salinas drives to the basket in Karnes City's area round playoff matchup against Halletsville last week. Salinas scored 10 points in the loss.
Karnes City comeback falls just short in area round
(Posted 3/3/2010 10:32 am)
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Trailing 31-10 late in the second quarter, junior point guard Nick Pacheco showed just how far a little extra effort can go when he hit the ground for a loose ball and called a timeout.
That all-out effort sparked a 16-5 Badger run that made the area round playoff matchup a competitive ball game late into the third period. Karnes City pulled to within 36-26 before Halletsville (31-1) put the game away with a late run.
Despite the loss, the Karnes City boys finished off one of their best seasons in the last decade, winning a bi-district championship for the first time since 1997.
With the game all but decided, senior Bucky Braun had the ball in his hands for the final points the Badgers would score in the 2009-2010 season.
Braun made a strong move to the basket and scored two of his six points in the game despite being fouled, and according to his coach, has played that way all season long.
Braun had 13 points in the bi-district championship win over Universal City Randolph February 22, an effort his coaches said couldn't have come at a better time.
"Bucky has had a tremendous senior season and was really good during the playoffs," Armstrong said. "He stepped up for us at the most important time of the season and I'm really glad he was here for us."
Braun is the only player who will not be returning from this season's bi-district championship squad. Those returning include nine juniors, which should provide a solid core of battle-tested Badgers in 2010-2011.
"I'm just proud of these guys," Armstrong said. "They played really well and we have a lot of juniors coming back. I think we're going to do very well next season."
