The Elsik boys basketball team earned few if any style points from their 66-54 victory against Katy Monday night, but winning pretty is the farthest thing from coach Tim Martin’s mind.

Of the Rams’ eight scorers, none were seniors. All were sophomores or juniors.

The team’s leading scorer, Nathan Buelden, remains sick with a flu bug that sidelined eight Rams last week, when they lost two district games.

The balance was something to behold – sophomore Darrious Curry scored a game-high 15 points, and three teammates added 12 apiece.

And perhaps the best news for Elsik is that at 2-4 in District 18-5A with eight games to go, the postseason isn’t out of the question.

For a team that played 14 seniors last year, Martin is pleased and almost bubbly wondering what the next two years might hold for this group.

“We weren’t discouraged last week,” said Martin, who played six sophomores Monday. “Sickness is a part of this, and it’s my job to teach these young guys during adversity how to be young men. We took a major negative and tried to make it into a positive.”

The Rams (12-16 overall, 2-4 district) missed 10 straight shots in the first quarter but caught fire in the second from outside. Curry and Cedric Richardson each hit two 3-pointers to highlight a 16-2 run that opened a 29-15 lead.

“We’re gonna spread the floor and shoot,” Martin said.

Curry scored eight straight points late in the half, capping his spurt with a layup with 1:36 to play.

Rodney Milam and Luke Taylor split most of the scoring in the third quarter, when Elsik twice built 17-point leads.

Kevin Brown, Milam and Richardson each scored 12 points for Elsik.

“We just needed to start knocking (shots) down and focusing,” Curry said. “That’s what gets you wins – focusing and doing what you need to do. It’s good to get everybody involved and get everybody scoring. Everybody’s confidence gets up and everybody gets going.”

The Tigers (5-16, 0-6) mustered a run in the fourth and got within 58-52 with 1:25 left on a Brian Rowe layup, but the Rams went 4-of-8 from the foul line in the final 1:16 to seal the win.

Rowe led Katy with 14 points.

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