By Brian Argabright
The 830 Times
Headed into the final day of competition at the Wings and Rings Basketball Classic, fans and workers who had seen most of the games agreed the best teams they’d seen were San Antonio John Jay and San Antonio Churchill.
Those two teams would meet for the tournament’s inaugural championship, and it was John Jay that made history by being the first champion of the boys basketball tournament sponsored by Buffalo Wings and Rings.
Fifteen teams from around the state took part in the three-day tournament hosted by the Del Rio Rams. Pool play was held Thursday and bracket play ran Friday and Saturday. The semifinals pitted San Antonio St. Anthony against John Jay while Laredo Nixon battled San Antonio Churchill in the other semifinal.
John Jay’s speed and basketball acumen was too much for Churchill’s height to overcome. Jay led 24-15 after the first quarter and 43-20 by halftime. The Mustangs never let up and rolled to an 80-54 win.
Zachariah Linson had 23 points to pace the Mustangs. Jarrius Jackson Jr. had 17 points, Alijah Hubbard and Jaiden Guillen each had 13 points, and Camrin Garza had 12 points to add to the Jay attack.
Eli Jones was the only Churchill player to break double digits, leading the Chargers with 21 points.
Del Rio went 2-3 in the tournament. The Rams’ final game was against San Antonio Warren on Saturday. For the second straight game, the Rams started slowly, finding themselves in a 16-6 hole by the end of the first quarter.
The Rams began to find their rhythm in the second quarter as five different players notched a basket. By halftime, Del Rio had cut the lead to single digits aided by a 6-0 run in the quarter.
Del Rio’s best showing came in the third quarter when the Rams were able to regroup and cut the lead to four, 35-31, but Warren outscored Del Rio 7-4 down the stretch to take a 42-35 lead into the fourth quarter.
Warren never let the Rams get closer and finished off the 54-45 win.
Warren’s Devin Peterson led all scorers with 26 points. He was the only Warren player to score in double digits.
Del Rio was led by Alexis Flores’ 14 points including four 3-pointers. Julian Dominguez had 11 points, Israel Betancourt had six points, Gabriel Arriaga gad five points, Claudio Carstan had four points, Ethan Dobbins had three points and Angel Contreras had two points.
In other games Saturday, Southwest defeated Marshall, Kerrville Tivy beat Presidio, Corpus Christi Carroll beat Edison, Presidio defeated Roma, Holmes beat St, Mary’s Hall, and in the third place game, Nixon defeated St. Anthony.
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Contact the author at drnhsports@gmail.com
