Boys basketball to face second place West Mesquite

With hopes of moving into second place in district 15-5A before starting the second round of district play, the boys basketball team (11-7, 4-2) looks to defeat West Mesquite (14-7, 4-1) tonight at home at 7 p.m.

“West Mesquite is an outstanding transition team and puts up about 70 points a game,” head coach Kyle Herrema said. “We need to make sure we get back [on defense] and make them play in the half court. Offensively we need to know when to push and when to set up and play under control.”

Last week, the team defeated Royse City 61-43 after getting off to a quick start and outscoring the Bulldogs 14-5 in the first quarter.

“We know when we were preparing to play Royse City that they were not as high of a caliber team such as Highland Park or North Forney, but we went in with the same mindset because we cannot afford to lose,” senior Steven Prudhomme. “Our record is important because there are five potential playoff teams so we needed to take it seriously.”

On Tuesday the team traveled to Highland Park to take on the first place team in district. They fell 46-37 to the Scots, but sophomore Kyle Olsen was still able to put up 17 points.

“It was a tough loss but what matters most is that we gave it our all,” senior Matthew Fisher said. “We can use this game as motivation for the rest of the year and hopefully defeat them next time around when they visit us.”

The team, currently in fourth place in the district, will begin the second round of district competition with a rematch on the road against Forney on Tuesday.

“I always enjoy the second half of district to try and figure out how the other team is going to adjust to us,” Herrema said. “Overall it’s just a lot of fun competing for a district crown.”