Wolves drop in standings, miss playoffs

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HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL

Dilley won one of three games over the course of a week and a half to remain in playoff contention in District 30-3A hoops action but were mathmatically eliminated as other league results did not play out in their favor.
The Wolves lost a pair of decisions to Lytle and Karnes City before routing Natalia to keep their slim playoff hopes alive last week. Cotulla then dropped a decision to Natalia, eliminating the Wolves from the postseason. Dilley then split outings with Jourdanton and Poteet to close out the week.
Dilley played well in stretches against the Pirates and Badgers but their inability to put together a complete game proved costly down the stretch in both outings.
In their January 29 contest against Lytle, the Wolves trailed by 19 going into the fourth quarter and made a run to cut the margin to only six points. Garret Castor and Ike Rodriguz were instrumental in the comeback bid with clutch three-point shots to close the gap.
Dilley, however, would run out of steam and Lytle held on for a narrow 68-62 decision.
Lytle led 24-13 after the first and 31-26 at intermission. With a 25-point outburst in the third, the Pirates extended that lead to 56-41 after three.
The Wolves carried that fourth quarter momentum into their next outing against Karnes City, jumping out to a 21-13 first period lead on the Badgers before going cold in dropping a 76-62 decision.
The Badgers rallied in the second, outscoring Dilley 26-11 in the stanza to take a 39-32 lead at intermission.
Karnes City pulled away in the second half, outpointing the Wolves 24-16 in the third to build a 63-48 advantage going into the fourth.
Despite the pair of painful losses, Dilley regrouped on February 2 and dominated from start to finish in a 69-52 romp over Natalia.
Junior Vicente Cantu led all scorers with 25 points and six steals and the win reignited Dilley’s waning playoff hopes.
Similarly to their previous two contests, the Wolves got off to a quick start, leading 17-5 in the first but allowed the Mustangs to rally in the second and close the margin to 30-21 at halftime.
The Wolves, however, slammed that door shut in the third, rolling up 22 points in the stanza as they outscored Natalia 22-10 in the period to increase their lead to 52-31 going into the fourth.
The Wolves then dropped a 65-49 decision to Jourdanton on February 4 and followed that up with a 62-44 win over Poteet.
Senior Ike Rodriguez led the team with 12 points against Jourdanton.
In the Poteet win, Cantu hit several clutch three pointers and senior Garrett Castor was also instrumental in the win. Landon Keck led the team with 17 points, 15 rebounds and eight blocks.
At 2-9 in league play, the Wolves currently sit in seventh in the standings. Dilley took on Cotulla Tuesday evening and will close out the year Friday against Karnes City. The Wolves could still play the role of spoiler this week as a win over the Badgers would eliminate them from the playoffs.