Tough Test
By TJ MAXWELL
Cove Leader-Press
The Copperas Cove basketball team was 45 seconds away from claiming their first District 12-6A basketball behind an 18-point second-half performance by senior Devante Robinson, but six-straight points by Harker Heights’ senior Marcus Brown closed the door on the comeback attempt closed out the Heights’ scoring in the Knights’ 59-52 win Friday in Cove.
A traditional three-point play by Robinson, that capped his team-high scoring 18 points, brought Cove within one possession at 53-50, but six unanswered points on three possessions by Brown secured the Knight’s first district win to move to 14-5 overall and 1-1 in District 12-6A.
“We gave up a few shots and we missed a few free throws there at the end,” said Cove head coach Billy White Jr. “We went through a span where we missed four or five straight free throws where we could have easily closed that gap and we missed them. We have been hot and cold all year with free throws. One game we’re shooting great and the next we’re shooting very poorly.”
The Dawgs (10-13, 0-3) put themselves in a hole with just 16 first-half points and found themselves in double-digit deficit after the first two quarters to play. Trailing by just three points, 13-10, the Knights outscored the Dawgs 15-6 in the frame to take a 28-16 lead into the break.
A traditional three-pointer by senior Malyk Thomas and a three from beyond the arc by sophomore Justus Honea knotted the game at 16-16 early in the second quarter before the Knights closed the frame on a 12-0 run. Five different Knights players scored during the run.
“I think we didn’t score again with like six minutes to go in the second quarter and go in down 12,” said White. It was the second quarter that basically cost us because we went on the dry spell for about six minutes.”
Cove came out firing to begin the third period with a 14-5 run. A put back by Robinson and a bucket by sophomore Jyhlil Rice cut the Knights’ lead to single-digits, 28-20. A bucket by Heights’ senior Davon Clare pushed the Knights’ lead back to 10, 30-20, but another basket by Robinson and a three-pointer by junior Dahmir Pearson cut the lead in half, 30-25.
“Copperas Cove came out and won the first three minutes of the second half and got back into the ball game,” said Heights’ head coach Celneque Bobbitt. “My hat goes off to them.”
Heights’ Brown answered with a three of his own to push the lead back to eight.
A pair of ‘and one’ plays by Cove senior Malyk Thomas and Robinson twice cut the Knights’ lead to three but a 9-2 run by the Knight, aided by four-straight missed Cove free throws, pushed Heights back in front by 10, 45-35, with just over five minutes to play.
Three-pointers Honea and Robinson, along with free throws by freshman Quinton Ford and Robinson and a bucket by Robinson pulled Cove back within four, 50-46.
A traditional three-point play by Clare held off another Cove rally and set the table from Brown to close out the game from the charity stripe.
“I’m just glad the game is over,” said Bobbitt. “It was an ugly ball game from start to finish. Copperas Cove really came out and represented their home court. I’ll take the victory. I can’t complain about that at all but I just think we need to execute a little bit better and play a little harder.”
White knows his team was really close to earning their first district win and close district losses can be a great teaching tool and confidence builder after getting blown out in the first two contests.
“Of course it’s still a loss but it is a situation where there understand they deserve to be here,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of first-year varsity players so for them to be in a game like this they can see it’s going to come down to a few possessions. If you don’t take care of your business the entire game, that stuff can come back and haunt you later on.”
One bright spot for the Dawgs was the play of post Wyatt Behara. The senior scored six first-quarter points and hauled in 10 rebounds in the first half before taking a seat on the bench with foul trouble early in the second quarter.
“Behara played very well for us,” said White. “I actually called him out when we got off the court and praised him on the game he had. Unfortunately, we didn’t come out with a (win) but we’re going to need Wyatt to play like that for us to be successful.”
Behara finished with eight points and 13 boards. Robinson had four rebounds and an assist to go with his team-high 18 points. Thomas also chipped in 10 points and four boards.
Clare finished with 23 points and six rebounds to lead the Knights. Senior Joseph Victorian added 13 points and Brown chipped in nine.
White is happy with his team’s effort but not necessarily the execution.
“I thought both teams played really hard and played well for the most part,” he said. “We just have to make sure we’re finishing with contact. That’s something we’ve got to get used to doing. We’ve been preaching it and practicing it, we just have to make those layups through contact. If you don’t do that, and pair it with missing free throws, it’s tough on us.”
It doesn’t get any easier for White and the Dawgs as they travel to Killeen tonight to face the No. 9 ranked Shoemaker Grey Wolves.
“We’re going to battle every night,” said White. “We just have to make sure we take care of the games we can control and everything else will take care of itself.”