After a very strong first half of basketball, the Connally Cougars (black) suffered a tough 68-63 loss to the Dripping Springs Tigers, who got an outstanding second half performance from Jalen Jury. The Cougars jumped out to an early 17-7 lead behind the shooting of Dion Gaddy and the inside play Blair Anderson. The duo scored 12 points in the early going and set the tempo for the Cougars’ aggressive full court press. The Cougars built their biggest lead of the night when Syvon Reagan nailed a 3-pointer to make the score 30-14. However, the Tigers would go on an 18-9 run to end the half to make the score 39-32.

After the Tigers scored the opening basket of the second half to make the score 39-34, the Cougars went on a 12-6 run capped by a Gaddy basket. The Cougars led again 53-42 after Reagan found Anderson under the basket for an easy layup.

Jury took over the game for the Tigers scoring 14 of their next 16 points to give them their first lead of the night at 56-55. The Cougars took back the lead at 58-56 after a Tony Standberry 3-pointer, but it was short-lived, as the hot-shooting Jury quickly answered with another 3-pointer to give the Tigers the lead for good.