Tigers lose pair as team nears end of season

By Melissa McCaghren

Slatonite GM

The Slaton Tiger basketball team continued its struggles in District, dropping a pair of games last week as the season winds down.

The team lost 43-81 against the Childress Wildcats Feb. 2, and then 48-84 against the Shallowater Mustangs Friday (Feb. 5).

Coach Stacy Godfrey was happy with some of the game play the Tigers had against Childress. “I thought the team played hard, but Childress forced us into too many turnovers,” he said. “We had a total of 25 turnovers and Childress was able to score 19 times.

Top scorer was Hudson Sackett with 14 points. Also scoring were Braeden Gibbs with 10 points, Evan Lopez with five points, Ayden Raimrez and Travarien Samuels with three points each and Xzavion Whaley, Treven Baker, Camryn Nalley and Tayton Miller had two points a piece.

“Hudson Sackett and Braeden Gibbs both combined for 24 points, with Sackett 14 and Gibbs 10,” said Godfrey.

In the Shallowater game, Godfrey said the team played hard in spite of the outcome.

“Once again Hudson Sackett scored 14 points and Braeden Gibbs, leading scorer, poured in 20 against Shallowater, but wasn’t enough for the shooting team of Shallowater, making 13 (three-pointer’s) in that game,” he said.

Top scorer in the game against the Mustangs was Gibbs with 20 points. Also scoring were Sackett with 14, Baker with four points, Brayden Brown and Ayden Ramirez with three points each and Camryn Nalley and Tayton Miller with two points each.

The team played the Idalou Wildcats Tuesday evening (Feb. 9) for its last game of the season.

The Tigers cannot make it to the playoffs this season, but Godfrey is hoping the team finishes strong in a season plagued by injury, low team numbers and COVID.

“Hopefully we can put some things together and win on a good note not only for our seniors but for our returners for next year as well,” he said.