Thank you, Coaches Art Vela and AJ Hettler for providing these summaries of the recent Seventh Grade Basketball Games.
Thursday, January 30, 2025 Lytle 6, Hondo 7:
Thursday, January 30, 2025, the Seventh Grade Team Two Pirates attempted to close out the season with a successful home stand vs the Hondo Owls. After last week's thrilling 12-11 victory it seemed as though our boys had developed a flair for the dramatics, once again getting locked into a nail bitter that would come down to the very end!
It was a defensive game all the way through as the Pirates were trailing by 2 points going into halftime. The energy was at an all-time high as possession kept going back and forth between the two teams. With time winding down and our lead only up a point, the Owls were able to put up a last-minute shot that put them over the top to secure the win with a heartbreaker 7-6. As devastating as this loss was, the boys were reminded to keep their heads up. They have come such a long way from their season opener, even closing out the season by winning 2 of their final 3 games! I could not be more grateful and proud to have coached these group of young men.
These boys are on to the spring and Junior High track! We hope to see you next week on February 12th as Lytle will host its first meet of the season!
Coach AJ Hettler, Lytle Junior High Boys Athletics
Junior High Basketball has come to an end and is was a great season.
Thursday, January 30, 2025 Lytle 45, Hondo 18:
Seventh Grade Team One boys had the opportunity to take on Hondo here at home where we battled the owls in a close one for the first half. In a back-and-forth game it didn't go the Pirates way until Trae D showed us a 13 point 3rd quarter to run away with the game 45-18. Trae was also our leading scorer with 18 points helping us to a perfect 7-0 on the season!
Finishing the regular season undefeated we had the opportunity to travel down to Hondo and play in our District Basketball Tournament on Saturday, February 1, 2025:
Game one against Natalia, we were led by Isiah, Jase and Brook's rebounding and physical play down low which pushed us out super early. Along with great game control of Gustavo Mata handling Natalia's zone helping all of our team get to the spots we needed them in and creating tempo on the offensive side for the Pirates! The pressure of two of the quickest guys in all of Lytle being Chase and Frankie, was so hectic and applying so much pressure all morning not giving Natalia any chance for a comeback! GAME BALL goes to Mason E who was absolutely all over the court rebounding and pushing the ball up the floor to create the pace we needed to kick off all day finishing plays and getting the ball rolling for us!
Final Score: Lytle 46 , Natalia 16
Game two, Jace and Jagger defensively helped push the pace for our Pirates on top of our press grabbing steal after steal super early for us giving us the lead early in the game! Despite a comeback from Crystal City in the 4th, we were able to jump on Noah Pierce's shoulders and saw his physical gameplay and soft touch lead us to the championship behind a 19-point performance and great leadership on and off the floor! Noah and Trey hit key shots at crucial points to make sure our Pirates kept all momentum.
Final Score: Lytle 43, Crystal City 31
Championship game we started off behind which we hadn't really seen much of all year, but it helped bring out a side of Tevin that we might have not been able to see! Tevin was grabbing every rebound finishing in double digits for offensive and defensive rebounding. Tevin helped clean up anything and everything near both rims. Frankie, Jase and Jagger once again played great defense to never let the Cowboys go on any big runs. Avery was great at handling under pressure from the cowboys who matched our intense pressure and style of playing fast. For a moment whenever we went down Avery and Noah were able to provide us with a basket to make sure and keep us on top. Avery led with 20 points and slick passing helping us towards a Tournament Championship for our Pirates!
Final Score: Lytle 40, Cotulla 29
Shout out to all our parents for helping provide for our eventful Saturday in Hondo keeping our boys fed and on top of our A game all season! Also, a big thank you to Mrs. Sprenger for coming out and supporting our Pirates keeping us in line!
Coach Art Vela
