Llano boys basketball faces Alvarado in first-round match
Llano High School senior guard Chance Ware (left) drives to the basket after senior forward Eli Tiffin (21) set a screen. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
JENNIFER FIERRO • PICAYUNE STAFF
MARBLE FALLS — The Llano High School boys basketball team enters the Class 3A playoffs as the third-place team out of District 8-3A.
That’s because the Yellow Jackets (20-13 overall, 6-4 district) defeated Lampasas (12-18 overall) 47-39 on Feb. 14.
Llano will face Alvarado for a bi-district championship at 8 p.m. Feb. 18 at Dublin High School, 2233 Texas 6 in Dublin.
Winning 20 games “is a mark of a good team,” Llano head coach Aidan Callahan said. “We’re going to celebrate this.”
The game, however, wasn’t decided until the second half.
It took almost four minutes for either team to open the scoring. By the end of the first, Llano led 8-7.
The Yellow Jackets’ 8-0 run resulted in a 13-7 lead 90 seconds into the second quarter. Senior post Issac Hutto scored back-to-back buckets, and senior guard Layton Rabb added a basket for a 19-13 advantage.
But the Badgers ended the half on a 7-2 run to trim the deficit to 21-20.
Llano led by as many as nine points in the third; however, Lampasas continued to respond. Right before the third-period horn sounded, Hutto found guard Chance Ware for a 3-pointer to give the Jackets a 34-26 lead.
Both squads each scored 13 points in the final period.
Hutto led Llano with 15 points.
Ware said his players didn’t start the contest strong, but they fought through it.
One of the adjustments Llano made at the half was putting Ware in a man-to-man defense against Lampasas senior guard Gary Spencer, while the other Jackets stayed in a zone defense.
As a result, Spencer scored five points, unable to duplicate the 25 points he scored Feb. 12 against the Jackets.
“Defense is my strong point,” Ware said. “He’s a good player. It’s hard guarding him. We wanted to come in with a bang. We showed the district what Llano is made of.”
jfierro@thepicayune.com