GONZALES APACHES

Apaches suffer tough loss at home

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GONZALES — The shots just didn’t fall for the Gonzales Apaches as they took a 53-43 loss against Cuero for their district opener last Friday.

“The biggest factor for us was our offense, I think,” Alec Paramski said. “We just had one of those nights where shots didn’t fall. We got the open looks that we wanted, we just couldn’t convert on them. That hurt us. That and our missed free throws.”

The Apaches had too many scoring droughts, even coming within six points from Cuero late in the fourth, but missed opportunities and missed layups were too much to overcome for the young Gonzales squad.

“I keep telling the kids, keep inching away, keep inching away,” Paramski said of the fourth quarter comeback. “Our kids don’t give up, that’s what I love about this group of kids. Doesn’t matter what the scoreboard says, they’ll keep fighting hard. Basketball is an emotional rollercoaster, there’s a lot of highs and lows and the kids just kept fighting.”

Early foul trouble was also a factor for the Apaches rotation. Despite that, role players like Diego Diaz de Leon and younger players such as Xavier Aguayo had to step in.

“Playing time can adjust game-by-game based on foul trouble,” Paramski noted. “Diego stepped up big, Xavier Aguayo also stepped up big, he knocked down some shots.”

“We just didn’t have enough other players,” Paramski admitted.

Aguayo led the team in scoring with 15 points. Senior Apache player Will Knox added 12 while Diaz de Leon had nine, Jaydyn Lookabill had five and Brady Barfield had two points.

Down 41-31 at the start of the fourth, the Apaches went on a 7-3 run to go down six points with 2:39 left in the game. Cuero ended the night on a 9-5 run to take the 10-point victory.

On Tuesday, the Apaches lost 56-51 to Navarro to drop to 0-2 in District 30-4A. They host Poteet on Friday before traveling to Pleasanton to take on the state-ranked Eagles next Tuesday, Jan. 14.

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