Bucks show continued growth

While the Graham Steers received an early Christmas present Monday afternoon, the Breckenridge Buckaroos continue to show improvement as the team marches toward the district schedule Keion

Shead joined the Steers for his first game of the season after recovering from an injury. His return was not enough as the Steers fell to Bucks at Graham High School, 66-39.

Dec. 20 was the third time the Steers and the Buckaroos met this season. The Bucks bested the Steers, 59-56, Nov. 30 at Breckenridge and again at the Breckenridge Tournament, 67-63.

While the Steers gained the shooting of Shead, they were still missing the inside presence of Ben Williams. For the Buckaroos, it was all about the continued improvement in ball movement and shooting.

“Yeah, we are just getting more practice,” Buckaroos coach Brent Lucas. “And we’ve been in two tournaments, five games in our tournament and four games in the Jacksboro tournament, and we’re playing Muenster and Godley and all these kind of teams and their high caliber teams. It’s starting to show in the games. We’ve seen better ball movement and shooting as of late along with playing better defensively. “

The Buckaroos opened the game with back-to-back baskets. A 3-pointer by Sean Cooksey and a 2-point shot by Zeke Castillo set the rest of the game in motion for the visiting Buckaroos, who led for the duration of the game. After a pair of missed free throws by Shead, he put the Steers on the scoreboard at the 5:20 minute mark of the opening quarter. The Steers did not score another basket until the 1:15 mark when Lawson Wenninger snapped a 10-0 run by the Buckaroos.

The second quarter opened the way the game began. This time is was Alexis Franco with five points in the opening minute. Franco’s points gave the Buckaroos a 21-4 lead one minute into the second quarter.

The worst stretch of the game for the Buckaroos was quickly followed by their best stretch. Shead hit a 3-pointer with 6:30 left in the quarter that sparked a 9-0 run. Three missed free throws in that stretch lessened the potential of the run. The Buckaroos responded 12-1 run with four 3-point shots.

The run was finally stopped by Wenninger with a steal and a layup with just over a minute left in the first half. Although the Steers scored their game-high of 14 points in the quarter, it was matched by 22 from the Buckaroos, the most of either team in the game.

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