Five Bulldawgs make 8-6A All-District Basketball list

By TJ MAXWELL
Cove Leader-Press

The Copperas Cove boys’ basketball team had one of the best starts in program history with a 22-1 record but an unfortunate 12-game losing streak concluded their season and eliminated them from playoff contention.
“It was a difficult year for us because we started out really strong,” said Cove head basketball coach Billy White Jr. “We won 22 games before Christmas and had the best start we’ve had here in Copperas Cove. Unfortunately, in the second half of the year we dropped a lot of close games.
“The thing I was most impressed with these guys is they continued to fight and grind it out.”
The coaches of District 8-6A recently honored the players in the district for their hard work and five Bulldawgs made that list.
Junior Quinton Ford and senior Neyland Block were selected to the Second Team while seniors Justus Honea and Jyhlil Rice, along with junior Tyrese Taylor earned Honorable Mention.
Honea, Rice and senior Jacob Carter were also selected to the Academic All-district list.
Ellison senior Casey Armour was named the District’s Most Valuable Player and Midway junior Diego Gonzales was named Newcomer of the Year. Fellow Panther sophomore Anthony Scott was named the Offensive Player of the Year and Shoemaker junior J’wan Roberts was named Defensive Player of the Year.
Selected to the First Team were Diego Gonzales (Midway), Du’Wain Thomas (Shoemaker), Kiron Griffin Jr (Belton), Montego Muckelvaney (Killeen), Dillon Gooding (Harker Heights), Dontori Lott (Belton), Amir Davis (Ellison) and Cortez Ivie (Killeen).
Joining Ford and Block on the Second Team were Dashawn Walker (Harker Heights), Deveraux Minix (San Angelo Central), Jarian Early (Midway), Duriell Taylor (SA Central), Rickey Lacey (Midway), Levi Whiddon (Midway), Kadarius Green (Ellison) and Jackson Taylor (Killeen).