Greyhounds fall to Wichita Falls Hirchi in OT in 4A state semis

SAN ANTONIO – Boerne High almost did something on Friday that only one BISD basketball team has been able to do in its rich history – win a state semifinals game.

The Greyhound were one quarter away from advancing to the 4A state championship game and led for three quarters, but Wichita Falls Hirschi rallied to tie it in the fourth and send it to overtime where the Huskies picked up a 63-57 win.

As it is, this Boerne team did something that no other BISD basketball team has been able to do, and that’s advance to state after the previous team made it.

Boerne coach Kimble McHone said his team came very close to advancing to the title game that was held Saturday in the Alamodome.

“It came down to one or two possessions, it was a great game, probably a great game to watch,” he said. “It was back and forth and they made one or two more shots than we did and that’s what it came down to.”

The Hounds played well early on and were leading 13-11 after one and then took a 27-22 lead into halftime after they outscored the Huskies in the second, 14-11.

In the third quarter, Koen Wolff converted a 3-point play with a bucket and a free throw and Boerne pulled ahead, 38-28, with 3:32 left in the period quarter, but the Huskies kept chipping away at the lead and had it down to 6 points at the end of three, 40-34.

Hirschi pressed and forced seven turnovers in the fourth quarter and didn’t miss a shot from 2-point range after they went 7 for 7 inside the 3-point line in the period. The Wichita Falls school was also good at the free-throw line and went 4 for 5 in the fourth.

The Huskies 2-point prowess and free-throw shooting made up for a 1 for 10 performance from the 3-point line in the game.

McHone said they were focused on stopping Ernest Young and Jermaree Ingram and added that the other players stepped up and made some shots.

“We were concentrating on getting Ernest Young stopped, but you can’t stop them all,” he said. “We were trying to make other guys beat us and they were able to get into the paint a little bit on us.”

After Barrett Pape made two free throws, the Hounds were leading 52-49 with 1:26 left, but didn’t score the rest of the stanza.

Boerne coughed it up on its next possession for the sixth turnover of the period, while the Huskies hit a 2-pointer and then tied it with a free throw with 31 ticks on the clock.

BHS had the last possession and burned the clock down to 11 seconds before taking a timeout. They tried to set up a play for Devin Styles but didn’t get a good look and the Huskies forced another turnover to send the game to OT knotted up at 52-52.

Hirschi scored first in overtime, but Styles tied it at 54-54. A steal from Houston Hendrix set up Trevor Agarwal in the corner where he drained a 3 and Boerne was up 57-54 with 1:50 left but the lead didn’t hold.

The Huskies made it a one-point game at 57-56 and then Boerne turned it over on its next possession and wouldn’t score again after the Agarwal 3. They had two turnovers and missed their final four shots from the field to end the game.

Hirschi went to the freethrow line eight times in the final minute as BHS had to start fouling and the Huskies went 7 for 8 down the stretch. At one point they were 18 for 19 from the line before missing the last FT with just 2.8 seconds left but they held a 63-57 lead at that point.

“They shot the ball well and they shot free throws unbelievable,” McHone said.

Styles led the Hounds with 23 points and had 13 at the half, Pape added 12 points, Wolff and Agarwal both netted 7, Hendrix scored 6 and Preston Thompson hit for 2.

Hendrix grabbed 12 boards and was the leading rebounder in the game.

“I love battling down low, it’s fun for me,” he said. “They’re real strong but I was ready for it and we came up a little short.”

Wolff said they had to adjust to playing in such a big arena.

“Everybody kind of had their depth perception off because we’re so used to a little wall behind us so everybody was short-arming it but we finally started hitting late,” he said.

BHS ends the year at 32-7 and has played in the state semifinals in consecutive seasons. Last year’s game was at a neutral site and not at the Dome and Styles said it was fun to play so close to Boerne.

“It was a great experience, last year (the state semifinals game) was in Houston three hours away so it was great to have all our fans here, the whole community,” he said.

The Hounds only graduate three seniors in Styles, Thompson and Koby Hunter.