The Rudder wrestling team took second at the Battle on I-45 on Saturday. Rudder’s Juan Diaz, Dequintus Wilson, Lyndon Williams, Maddie Trejo, Makia English and Abi Mitchell went undefeated in the tournament, which the Rangers won last season....
The Bryan boys soccer team couldn’t find a way past A&M Consolidated’s young but stout defenders, while the Tigers had a rocky night pretty much everywhere else on the field in a 1-1 tie on Saturday night at Tigerland Stadium. It wasn’t the performance Consol coach Jarrod Southern wanted to see from his young squad, but the Tigers did enough to end the Aggieland Classic matchup with a tie against their crosstown rivals. “I wasn’t happy with our level of aggression off the ball,” Southern said. “I thought we were too soft and too easy to play 1-on-1. If we’re losing our 1-on-1 battles in the wide areas and we’re letting players get past us, it puts us collectively under pressure and puts a lot of pressure on our back four. Our defenders did well in their 1-on-1s. It was out further up the field that put the defenders under pressure.” Despite being on its heels for much of the contest, Consol (0-4-1) climbed in the drivers seat at one point — though for only a minute. The Tigers caught a break with just under 11 minutes left in the first half when Oscar Martinez got a corner kick from the right side of the net. The initial kick turned into a Garrett Pany header that Bryan knocked away, but another pass found its mark and Pany kicked it past Bryan goalkeeper Josue Gonzales to give Consol the lead just before halftime. The Vikings (2-0-2) didn’t wait long to put the pressure back on the Tigers. Bryan missed an opportunity when a free kick by Luis Sanchez landed near the goal and just out of the reach of a Viking forward, but a rare miscue by Consol’s defenders allowed Rony Puerto to swipe the ball inside the penalty box. Puerto only had keeper Ricky Avila to beat, and he fired in the equalizer from short range. “The guys played with a lot of heart and a lot of passion,” Bryan coach Paul Ruiz said. “Consol is a good team. They’re the kind of people we need to play to get ready for district, and I really liked how we showed. Unfortunately it didn’t go our way, but the kids showed a lot of fight, especially going down early 1-0. That was big coming back and continuing to fight and put pressure on them.” The Vikings had several chances to break the stalemate but couldn’t finish the opportunities against the Tigers’ solid defensive effort. The Vikings got their best chance in the final seconds when a foul set up a free kick at the top of the penalty area as time expired. Consol deflected Puerto’s kick, and the game finished in a draw. “If they took [Consol defender Jeremy Mwarabu] out, we would have had a lot better chance,” Ruiz said with a smile. “That guy is a stud. He stopped a lot of balls. We had a hard time getting over them, because their back line was great and they stopped a lot of things.” While Bryan had a number of shots that just missed the mark in the second half, Consol’s chances were few and far between. But Southern said the Tigers still showed encouraging signs so early in the season. “The positives are the boys are young and they’re getting their mileage under the legs and learning,” Southern said. “I’m still excited, but tonight we were below par. We were not playing to our principals.” Bryan returns to action Thursday at the Longhorn Challenge in Austin against Clear Creek. Consol will play at Bryan Collegiate on Friday....
Bryan’s Dominic Caldwell had about as much time to dribble nearly 60 feet as it takes for one of his high-arcing 3-pointers to find the bottom of the net. And just like when he releases a 3-pointer, he believed he could do it. With the score tied at 70 and Cypress Springs holding the ball, the Vikings’ Xavier Duren and Tereus Henderson trapped Anas Rombok on the Panthers side of midcourt, which ignited a mad scramble for a loose ball. Caldwell ended up with it, darted to the basket and beat the buzzer by less than a second with a layup to give the Vikings a 72-70 victory on Friday in District 14-6A boys basketball play at Viking Gym. “I was away from the ball, and he stole it, gave it to me and I had to make the layup,” Caldwell said. “When I saw the ball, I knew there was a few seconds and I knew I had to be quick. I just hoped I’d make it, and I made it. I knew I had the time and had confidence in myself.” Henderson set up the last-second drama with a drive and left-handed layup to tie the game with 13 seconds remaining. “I asked the guys, do you guys want to go for it or do you want to go into overtime?” Bryan coach Jonathan Hines said of the conversation during the ensuing timeout. “They said let’s go for it, so we called one of our trap calls. We gambled. We were going for the win, and it paid off. Right when we picked it up, I looked at the clock in case I wanted to call a timeout, and I saw three seconds, and I was pretty confident [Caldwell] had the ability to get there in that amount of time.” For the longest time it appeared as if the Vikings (10-11, 2-4) wouldn’t have an opportunity to win the game at the buzzer. The Viking trailed by 10 or more points a majority of the first three quarters, and after Cy-Springs’ Jaylon Wilson converted a steal into a layup on the opening possession of the fourth quarter, the Panthers (10-12, 2-4) led 57-45. Bryan then scored eight points in 45 seconds and 14 straight points overall to take its first lead at 59-57. Dylan Glover started the run with his only basket of the game. He then found Henderson for a layup. Henderson was fouled on the play and missed the free throw, but Rodney Johnson grabbed the rebound and put it back for two more Bryan points. Henderson converted a steal into a layup, prompting a Panther timeout. The Vikings forced a backcourt violation, and Caldwell, who had a game-high 22 points, hit one of his five 3-pointers. JD Smith finished the run with a 3-pointer set up by a Glover steal. “The kids really played hard in the fourth quarter,” Hines said. “Truthfully we stunk it up in the first half. There is no denying that. We weren’t there mentally and didn’t execute anything. Then they focused, locked in and executed really well defensively, which led to good quality offensive shots which allowed us to come back.” The game started two hours before originally scheduled because of the threat of bad weather, and it appeared as if the Vikings didn’t get the memo. The Panthers scored the first nine points, seven by Wilson. Henderson stopped the nearly three-minute run with a basket, but it didn’t slow down the Panthers, who finished the first quarter with a 6-2 run for a 23-11 lead. The Vikings started showing some life to open the second half. Caldwell drew a foul while shooting a 3 and made all three free throws. He made it six points in 35 seconds with another 3, which he set up with a steal. Johnson added a 3-pointer a few minutes later. Caldwell then hit a 3 from the corner on an inbound pass, and Henderson scored on a fastbreak from Smith to draw Bryan within 53-45. “[Caldwell] practices those shots,” Hines said. “He’s one of the guys if he’s contested I’m not worried. He lives in the gym and shoots a lot and has gotten tremendously better, not only from last year but from day one in August to now.” Henderson finished with 18 points, and Johnson had 15 points and a team-high six rebounds. “I’ve been telling the guys we are just a few possessions away from being really good,” Hines said. “We’ve lost an overtime game to Cy-Lakes, lost on a foul at the buzzer against Bridgeland and the other day lost by three to Cy-Park on a turnover. I keep telling the guys to buy in, that those one-possession games are going to go your way. We just have to execute at the end of the ball game, and today we did.” Cy-Springs’ Davon Wright made 12 of 13 free throws, including two to put the Panthers up 70-68 with 33 seconds remaining, and finished with a team-high 20 points. Wilson, who got in early foul trouble, had 19 points, including 12 in the first quarter. Bryan 72, Cypress Springs 70 (Numbers after names indicate field goals made, free throws made-attempted, fouls, points.) CYPRESS SPRINGS (10-12, 2-4) — Anas Rombok 0 0-0 1 0; Davon Wright 4 12-13 2 20; Chris Poole 2 0-0 1 6; Jaylon Wilson 8 1-2 3 19; Enzi Mattar 0 0-0 1 0; Quartez Brooks 1 2-2 1 4; Cristian Green 0 0-0 2 0; JT Steward 5 1-4 2 12; Rashad Lago 2 3-4 2 7; Jaydon Nunn 1 0-0 3 2. TOTALS: 23 19-25 18 70 BRYAN (10-11, 2-4) — JD Smith 1 0-0 2 3; Umber Christian 1 0-0 3 2; Xavier Duren 1 0-0 2 2; Rodney Johnson 7 0-1 2 15; Camden Gray 1 0-0 1 3; Tereus Henderson 8 2-5 1 18; Dominic Caldwell 7 2-3 0 22; Dylan Glover 1 1-3 3 3; Aleks Kalaouze 0 0-0 0 0; Victor Grear 0 4-4 1 4. TOTALS: 27 10-16 15 72 Cypress Springs 23 14 18 13 — 70 Bryan 11 14 20 27 — 72 ...
The Rudder girls basketball team rolled to a 70-36 victory over Brenham in District 19-5A action Saturday afternoon at The Armory. Deondra Young led the Lady Rangers (22-3, 4-1) with 17 points, seven rebounds and three blocks, and Keaundra Kelly added 14 points and eight rebounds. Bryanna Turner dished a team-high seven assists to go with eight points, and Rakia Lee grabbed a team-high eight steals with seven points. Cameron Richards scored 11. Rudder continues 19-5A play against first-place College Station at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Cougar Gym. Rudder 70, Brenham 36 RUDDER (22-3, 4-1) — Deondra Young 17, Keaundra Kelly 14, Cameron Richards 11, Bryanna Turner 8, Rakia Lee 7. Highlights: RUDDER — Young 7 rebounds, 3 blocks; Kelly 8 rebounds; Turner 7 assists; Lee 8 steals. Next: Rudder at College Station, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday...
The Rudder boys basketball team earned its first District 19-5A victory of the season, outlasting Brenham 63-58 on Saturday afternoon. Grayson Adams led Rudder (7-16, 1-2) with 17 points, while Carlos Moreno scored 14 and Keithron Lee added 12. For Brenham (11-15, 1-2), Anthony Walton scored 24 points, and Cameron Lewis added 13. Rudder won the JV game 56-50, and Brenham’s Freshman A and B teams won 45-40 and 18-15, respectively. The Rangers will host College Station at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at The Armory, and Brenham will host Magnolia. Rudder 63, Brenham 58 RUDDER (7-16, 1-2) – Grayson Adams 17, Carlos Moreno 14, Keithron Lee 12, Jeremiah Johnson 9, Kentun King 7, MJ Heard 3, Justin Headge 2. BRENHAM (11-15, 1-2) – Anthony Walton 24, Cameron Lewis 13, Kaden Watts 5, Dawson Jacobs 5, Mauricio Chandler 4, Lane Sparks 3, De’Andre Lockett 2, Camren McWilliams 2. Rudder 11 18 16 18 – 63 Brenham 9 18 15 16 – 58 JV: Rudder 56-50 Freshman A: Brenham 45-40 Freshman B: Brenham 18-15 Next: College Station at Rudder, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday; Magnolia at Brenham, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday...
The Bryan boys soccer team beat Fort Worth Boswell 5-0 and tied Joshua 1-1 on Thursday in the Aggieland Classic. Bryan’s Rony Puerto had a hat trick and an assist against Boswell, while Ramiro Moreno and Christopher Chavez each scored goals. Luis Sanchez had an assist, and Josue Gonzalez earned the shutout in goal. Bryan’s Javier Munoz scored off an assist from for Chavez against Joshua. Gonzalez played in goal for the Vikings (2-0-1). Bryan was scheduled to play Bastrop on Friday at A&M Consolidated’s Tigerland Stadium, but the match was postponed until Saturday due to poor weather....