The Morton Ranch Mavericks had a chance to clinch a playoff berth Friday night but only if they could pull off an upset against the division leader Alief Hastings.

The first quarter was close with the lead swaying back and forth. Hastings would take a 14-13 lead into the second period, but the Mavericks started the second period off with a three-pointer and the foul to give them a 17-14 lead early in the second.

The Bears would respond quickly as they surged ahead throughout the remainder of the first half. The highlight of the first half came when Fighting Bear Lionel Foster hurled and sank a three pointer from the opposite end of the court giving Hastings a 43-29 lead heading into halftime. 

The 14-point lead at half would be enough to keep the Mavericks out of striking distance. Although Morton Ranch never stopped playing with intensity, the Bears were just too much for the Mavericks to handle.

Although the Mavericks hung around in the first half, it was all Bears in the second half, as they would not let Morton make any pushes to fight their way back.

“Our intensity really picked up in the second half,” explained Hastings coach Johnnie Carter. “We wanted to pick up the intensity and get the game into a faster pace because that’s when we play our best.”

The Bears went on to win by a final score of 77-62 to clinch the number one seed in District 18-5A.

“We just want to enjoy this victory tonight,” said Carter. “We have Cinco on Tuesday and after that we will start worrying about playoffs.”

The leading scorers for the game were B.J. Holmes with 24 and Chris Iles with 16 for the Bears. For the Mavericks it was Kevin Foster who dropped in 19 as teammate Devin Finn dropped in 14.

Hastings will host Cinco Ranch on Tuesday and the Mavericks will square off against Alief Taylor on Tuesday as well.

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