From the opening tip, the intensity was radiating from the two teams. Texas High got off to the early lead and had some momentum which included junior Janiro Lane crossing up his defender by dribbling between the legs, causing the defender to fall as Lane hit the three point shot to finish the big play.

After a series of plays, Longview and the Tigers battled throughout the first quarter. The score at the end of the first was 21-21, which would also be the closest Longview got to having the lead.

“We caused turnovers, got points on turnovers, real easy,” senior Malik Gailes said.

To begin the second quarter Texas High did allow Longview to catch up at the end of the first, they got right back on the roll they began. Texas High played strong defense, only allowing Longview to score 10 points in the quarter, while the Tigers went for 19 points in the quarter making it a 40-31 game favoring Texas High.

After half time ended the intensity felt like it was at a high at that point for both teams, with Longview trying to mount a comeback and Texas High fighting keep the lead. It was a good defensive quarter for both sides, as the score was 55-44 at the end of the third.

“We had a lot of motivation from our fans, family,” senior Janiro Lane said. “We had a lot of people watching, we had to take more charges.”

From the beginning of the fourth quarter The Tigers finished off the game strong. They went on a 13-0 run in the quarter which included another highlight play from Lane, cutting to the basket and making the slam dunk.

Texas High finished the quarter scoring 23 points for the quarter resulting in a 78-56 victory for the Tigers. Lane scored 15 points and had 5 rebounds, senior Malik Gailes had a good night scoring 12 points and grabbing 7 rebounds, and junior Jaylen Rhone had 14 points of his own while also contributing on defense getting 2 steals.

“It’s great because they lost to Marshall last Friday,” Gailes said, “so now they have two loses in their column.”

As a whole, Texas High out rebounded Longview 36-20 and never let the Lobos get a lead in the game. The Tigers are now 4-0 in district and are preparing for Marshall High School this Friday.

“We got to control the tempo, push real hard,” Gailes said. “We just have to keep that intensity up for the next game.”