Joaquin Rams Gymnasium, Friday, January 13, 2017
The Joaquin Rams Varsity Basketball Team evened their District 22 2A record to 2-2 with a 60-46 home win over, their cross-county rivals, the Timpson Bears (0-4).
The first period was a defensive battle which saw the Rams jump out to a 4-0 lead by the five minute mark due to buckets by Eleazor Huerta and Justin Hooper. A putback shot by Bear Jordan Osby and a free throw by teammate Jaden Johnson pulled THS to within 3-4 of Joaquin by the 2:33 mark. Trenton Ramsey gave the Rams a 5-3 lead with a free throw at the 2:26 mark. Bear Kelan Foster scored on a fast break and tied the game at 5-5 with 1:30 left in the opening stanza. Ramsey gave the Bears their first lead, at 7-5, when he scored on a fast break with 1:11 remaining. Hooper then tied the game at 7-7 when he blocked a shot and scored on a fast break with 12 seconds. Hooper scored the final period with a free throw that gave JHS a narrow 8-7 lead going into the second quarter.
Five points scored by Hooper in the second period helped the Rams out-pace THS, by an 11-8 margin, in the second period. The Rams took a 19-15 lead into the locker room at the midway break.
Hooper scored 14 of his game-high 27 points in the third period to help Joaquin hold a 44-36 advantage going into the final period of play.
The Rams outscored the Bears 16-10 in the final stanza to gain the 14-point win.
Eleazor Huerta had 17 points for the Rams, teammate Peyton Martinez chipped in 11 points.
The Bears' Dustin Pledger scored 15 points, Jaden Johnson 14, and Kelan Foster added eight points to the Bears' tally.
Joaquin will host the 4-0 Tenaha Tigers at Rams Gymnasium at 6:30 p.m. next Tuesday, January 17.
Timpson will travel to San Augustine, on Tuesday Jan. 17, to face the Wolves. Junior Varsity begins at 4:30 p.m. and Varsity will follow.
