Tigers Win Three-Of-Four In Kaufman, Beat Athens 47-42

The Wills Point Tigers boy’s varsity has won five of their last seven games, including Tuesday’s 47-42 win over Athens, a team that had previously defeated the Tigers by 23 points in the championship game of the Wills Point tournament.

Prior to Tuesday, the Tigers won three of four games at the Kaufman Tournament. Wills Point opened the tourney with a 47-35 win over Tyler Street Christian Academy. Wills Point used a 13-4 advantage in the second quarter to take a 27-14 lead at the half.

Josh Boyd led the scoring with 12 points, and he was followed by Steven Cunigan (11) and Junior Hamilton (10).

The Tigers followed that with a 67-58 overtime win over Greenville. With the game tied at 55 at the end of regulation, the Tigers got six points from Cunigan in the extra period. Boyd (19) led the scoring once again, including three-of-four from the line in overtime. Cunigan totaled 17.

The heroics worked the other way in the third round, as the Kaufman Lions hit a late shot to win 57-55.

Boyd stayed hot, scoring 20 points, including four 3-pointers. Cunigan was the other Tiger in double figures, scoring 10.

Playing McKinney Boyd on the final day, the Tigers came away with a 70-65 win, led by Junior Hamilton’s 22 points. Hamilton scored seven in the third quarter when the Tigers outscored McKinney 23-15. Darryn York (12) and Evann Padilla (11) also scored in double figures.

Following the tournament, the Tigers played without Hamilton in Brownsboro on January 2, and fell 55-38. Cunigan (10) and Boyd (9) combined to score 19. York scored seven, Marquis Burch had five, Trent Jurica three, and Ray Gaines and Brett Bradshaw each scored two.

Hosting Athens on Tuesday, the Tigers held a 21-20 lead at the half, and led throughout the second half.

"When we played them the first time, we had not seen that kind of quickness," said head coach Jimmy Wallace. "Playing against Greenville and McKinney Boyd in the Kaufman Tournament was helpful. Those are both teams with good quickness, and it prepared us to play with Athens.

"Defensively we were pretty intense," the coach said of the Athens game. "We really got after it, but we’re still not blocking out. I’m trying new drills just to get them to block out. With district coming, it’s time for us to come around on that."

Hamilton came back strong, scoring 19 points, while Cunigan scored 12. Boyd scored seven, Jurica three, and York, Padilla and Clay Deen all scored two.

On Monday the Tigers will host the team that eliminated them from the playoffs last year, Pleasant Grove. Bigger than that, though, is Friday’s district opener against the Van Vandals.

"It’s going to be tough," Wallace said of the district battle. "Van is picked to win the district, and they’re playing at a high level. They are very sound in what they do.

"We’re playing well in spurts, but we’re not playing hard every night. We need to play with intensity every night."