The Plainview Pirates boys basketball team took on some tough competition at the Burwell Longhorns Holiday Tournament on Thursday and Friday, Dec. 28 and 29. After two tough games, the Pirates were able to conquer Burwell and Ansley-Lichtfield to become the champions of the holiday tournaments, similar to their female counterparts.
With the holiday break coming to a close, the Pirates resume regular-season play with a contest on the road against the one-loss Summerland Bobcats on Tuesday, Jan. 2. On Friday, the Pirates took on the Spartans of Ansley/Litchfield for the tournament championship, where things got out to a rough start for Plainview.
Although the fight was there, the Spartans proved why they were undefeated heading into this game, as Ansley/Litchfield was able to jump out to a 16-9 lead after the first quarter. The Pirates were able to outscore the Spartans, but not by much, and still faced a 24-19 deficit heading into halftime. In the third quarter, Ansley/Litchfield was able to continue with their consistency, outscoring the Pirates by a point to keep Plainview at arms-length.
The fourth quarter was where the Pirates would take finally capture the lead for good. With a tough performance on defense to hold the Spartans to just four points. That combined with a 13-point performance offensively in the quarter was enough to catapult the Pirates to a 41-38 victory. This win secured the Pirates the Longhorn Holiday Tournament championship.
Leading the way for the Pirates in the championship game was Kohen Lingenfelter with 11 points, followed by the duo of Karter Lingenfelter and Spencer Hills with ten, Brendan Weber with eight, and Jason King with two.
In their first matchup of the tournament on Thursday, the Pirates took on the Longhorns of Burwell in a contest that heavily favored Plainview. The Longhorns entered the match at 2-5 on the season, while the Pirates came in at 4-3, looking to improve upon their record.
While the contest began close, with both teams going back-and-forth in the first quarter to have the score set at 15-13 after one, the Longhorns of Burwell couldn’t keep up with the Pirates. The Pirates outscored the Longhorns 19-4 in the second quarter to take a dominating 34-17 lead at the half, before outscoring the Longhorns 21-9 in the third quarter to essentially put the game on ice, and advance to the tournament championship.
In the Pirates 66-39 win over the Longhorns, the Pirates had nine players reach the scoring column. Leading the way was Hille with 24, followed by Karter Lingenfelter with nine, King with eight, Harrison Thor with seven, Kohen Lingenfelter with six, the duo of Weber and Reece Frahm with four, and Corben Kment and Wyatt Schroth each with two.