Cubs Silence Lobos in Bi-District Playoffs
The Olney High School Cubs handled the Cisco Lobos with grit, defensive prowess, and an aerial assault, winning the Bi-District Championship in Mineral Wells, 54-46.
The Cubs advance to Area play on Friday at 6 p.m. in Glenn Rose against the Waco Meyer Ravens, who are 11-1 in their district.
The Cubs have a decent shot at pulling out the Area win with the gritty style of play they showed against the Lobos. A couple of players were having a slight off-scoring night. If they pick it up on Friday, look for the Cubs to have a higher- scoring game against the Ravens.
Highlights of the game included a fiery defense that rocked the Lobos, leaving them slow to react and combat the Cubs. The Cubs also outplayed the Lobos with speed on offense. The top scorer honors were shared between two players: #2 Brady Lisle with 15 points, including two bombs from outside the line, and #4 Jamarcus Collins, who scored 15 points with a combination from all over the boards, including one from outside the line. Collins shone in Lobos traffic, often crashing through defenders on the way to the bucket with splashy moves reminiscent of a college player.
Collins will be the Olney Enterprise Player of the Game with his combination of fierce defense, gritty playing, scoring, and Cub heart on both sides of the ball.
Credit for the win goes to coaches and players who adopted Coach Eric Symank’s vision for the Cub basketball program, as well as the players’ belief in each other, shown by their selfless play style.
“Everything we’ve done all year has built up to this exact moment,” Coach Symank said after the game. “I couldn’t be happier for these kids. I told them before the game our keys to victory are to play basketball together and rebound like your life depended on it, and that’s exactly what they did tonight.”
When asked if any special preparation was taken for the game, Coach Symank said nothing had changed.
“We play as hard as we can for 32 minutes like we have all season!” he said.
Congratulations, Cubs! Fight on!