CL Erased Deficit in 2nd Half in a Win over Llano, 64-61
Rico Griffin getting his jump shot clicking in earlier game this season. (photo by Mariah Haight)
Canyon Lake took control to start the 2nd half to erase an 8 point deficit and start District 28-4A with a win over Llano, 64-61.
Go Hawks!!
Three pointers were on the side of those YellowJackets during those first two quarters after sinking 8 in giving a boost to Llano and increasing their lead going into intermission.
The Lake would come out and outscore LHS, 36-25 to end this game with 4 Hawks finishing with double digit scoring as the height of the visitors was nullified by CL’s speed in this comeback victory.
“We needed to take them out of their comfort zone,” Head Coach Lucas Chapman said. “Our defense in that second half won this game.”
The Hawks found a way to win after being successful after shooting just 25% from the free throw line. That aspect of the game was so bad, that CL had a better percentage beyond the arc. A saving grace happened inside the 3 point arc shooting, 67% with most of those baskets being a result defense via a steal.
Canyon Lake started the game opening up an 8 point lead (14-6) on a Trent MacRoberts 3 pointer with 3 minutes to play in that first period.
A YellowJacket time-out would break that Hawk advantage as Llano would finish with a 12-3 run and first quarter lead, 18-17.
Those points were a result of 4 long range makes in forging Llano’s lead during that 2nd period and entering halftime with a 36-28 advantage.
Anthony Zavala played Big in win over Llano.
Llano would realize their largest lead of 9 points to start the 2nd half before CL would start their accent in chipping away from that YellowJackets lead.
After that, the Hawks would dial up their intensity with several players coming alive.
Rico Griffin’s 9 rebounds were huge with 7 of those coming in that 2nd half of play and 5 of those bounds on the offensive board.
“This is becoming a recurring theme in coming back in the 2nd half,” Griffin stated. “We came out in the 2nd half in started closing them out with our hands up and contesting their 3 point shots.”
Llano was feasting after sinking 8 of those long range shots during those first two periods.
“We started pushing the ball up the court faster and Trent’s 3 steals boasted the team,” Griffin closed. “Hearing the fans go wild had that momentum go to us.”
Canyon Lake was led by 15 points from Anthony Zavala who looked like a ballerina in the paint with hook-shots, floaters, and just dribbling by the YellowJackets defense for easy baskets. Zavala’s, Convenience Store (7 for 11) shooting night, was a thing of beauty over this taller Llano team.
“I like to play with the bigs,” Zavala danced. “We just set up the play where they would come out to defense me and then I would see the mis-match and drive around them because that was how we had it set up….we knew we were better and we knew we just had to get better and take it when we came out for the 2nd half.”
Rico Griffin had some big rebounds in Hawk comeback over Llano.
CL’s starting 5 players finished with 60 points, with each player contributing in spurts, in helping with this win.
The Hawks finally had their first lead since early in the first quarter on a Sam Schimank 3 pointer with two minutes remaining in the 3rd period. This run was a resulted with a Hawk, 20-5 spurt which had the Good Guys with an, 48-43 advantage entering the final 8 minutes of play.
Llano would whittle CL’s lead down to 1 point, 50-49 and later a 57-56 advantage, but was never able to wrestle a lead back from the Hawks.
During CL’s final 4th Quarter sequence, MacRoberts (Stretch) was able to get two consecutive steals on two YellowJacket inbound passes that resulted in two assists and lay-ups from Parker Mott and Schimank.
Up to that point, the Hawks, were finding it hard to get any separation from beyond a one possession game.
Then It was, 21 seconds of craziness, as that one point (57-56) lead, ballooned to an 8 points from those MacRoberts steals that had a Mott 3 pointer starting it off.
“Coach says that I am lanky,” Stretch MacRoberts started. “I just kept my hands up and anytime he (Llano player throwing the ball in) threw it into my arms and I would just dish it out.”
Mott along with his 12 points all in that 2nd half, led the Hawks with 6 assists and 5 steals, as he continues to climb the All-Time Charts.
Way to Be Heroes Hawks!!
“I had a bad first half,” Mott recalled. “But we came out and started playing a good half and that gave everyone confidence.”
Mott continued,”When teams shut me down, I just need to quit taking bad shots on my part and that was when I started attacking.”
Canyon Lake would not score again but that spurt was enough for another nail-biter and opening up District 28-4A play with a win.
The Hawks will do battle with Fredericksburg at home this next Tuesday for another pivotable district contest with this opponent.
Go Hawks!!
CL Hawk Notes: **Canyon Lake is on their longest winning streak this season with 5. **Parker Mott needs 19 points to reach 800 for his career. **5 Hawks have surpassed the 100 point barrier this season. Sam Schimank (269), Parker Mott (264), Anthony Zavala (177), Rico Griffin (160) and Trent MacRoberts (137). **3 Players have 40 or more Assists. Parker Mott (48), Sam Schimank (44) and Rico Griffin (40). **There are 6 Hawk’s shooting 2 pointers with a 45% shooting pct or above. Rylee Spaulding (60%), Anthony Zavala (55%), Rico Griffin (51%), Sam Schimank (47%), Trent MacRoberts (47%) and Parker Mott (46%). 1 2 3 4 Final Llano 18 18 7 18 61 CL Hawks 17 11 20 16 64 3pt tot rebounds fgm-fga fgm-fga ftm-fta pts or-dr tot a s b to Rico Griffin 5-5 1-1 1-4 12 5-4 9 1 1 0 2 Trent MacRoberts 4-6 1-2 0-0 9 2-2 4 2 2 1 0 Sam Schimank 5-10 1-5 1-3 12 1-4 5 1 1 0 2 Parker Mott 4-14 3-11 1-5 12 0-2 2 6 5 0 4 Anthony Zavala 7-11 0-1 1-4 15 3-1 4 1 0 0 1 Ben Rowe 0-3 0-2 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 1 Luke Mendez 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0 JT Greene 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 1 0 0 Nic Rivera 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Jeremy Duncan 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 0-1 1 2 0 0 0 Rylee Spaulding 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 1-1 2 0 0 0 2 Totals 26-53 6-23 4-16 64 12-13 25 14 10 1 12 Percentage 49% 26% 25%
