Gatesville hoops inches closer to win record
Win over Robinson secures no worse than third place in District 23-4A
Correction: The original version of this story indicated that the Gatesville Basketball team had tied the regular-season record for wins in a season with 27 when, in fact, the 2007-08 team won 28 regular season games. The 2022-23 Hornets are now tied for second all-time with the 2008-09 team with 27 regular season wins. I apologize for the error.
Gatesville head basketball coach Brit Campbell has rarely been at a loss for words when talking about his team this season.
But on a night when his team – led by seniors Tyler Shea, Carter Williams, Ethan Nichols, and Banner Allman - secured their 27th win of the regular season, even Campbell had a hard time locating the things he wanted to say.
“Where do I start? I don’t even know where to start with them,” he said.
Describing the numbers is a good place to begin.
The Hornets 64-51 Senior Night win over Robinson gave the Hornets 27 wins (against 6 losses) on the season. That ties them with the 2008-09 team that won 27 regular season games then captured a bi-district playoff win to finish the season with 28 wins. They are one win shy of the 2007-08 Gatesville team that won 28 regular season games.
“I told them before the year how good they are and they are doing it now. It’s like a proud dad moment,” Campbell said.
The quartet of seniors were honored before the game in a ceremony that Campbell said hit him harder than he expected.
“I got emotional. I told myself I wasn’t going to but I have special place for them,” he said.
Shea, Williams, Nichols, and Allman are all two-year letterman who have helped the Hornets go from 5-20 in 2021 to 13-22 in 2022, to 27-6 with one regular-season game remaining in 2022.
“I am extremely proud of this group of seniors. Just the dedication that they have. They have put in so much work. They have turned this into such a passionate thing – not just for them but for the players coming up behind them.” Campbell said. “I am extremely proud of them for different reasons.”
“Tyler gets everyone’s energy up and he gets pumped when he is able to help his teammates get buckets and Ethan is so valuable. He’s a great teammate. Not just off the court and on the bench but he’s a guy our team wants to be with. Each one of them has a very unique role but at the same time they are very together.”
Campbell said one the best things about this particular group has been the amount of responsibility the players have taken in setting - or re-setting - the direction of the team.
“I’ve been able to put more on this group than any group I have ever been a part of. I am able to just tell them ‘you talk it out’ or ‘you figure it out’ or ‘you go it’ and they know what to do and what to say,” he said. “Sometimes I tell myself to shut up because they know what I am going to say.”
That attribute came in handy in the days leading up to the win over Robinson as it came on the heels of the Hornets last-second 64-62 loss to the Pirates on Feb. 7
“After that game there were some devastating looks. Multiple guys felt like it was their fault. They were blaming themselves and it was more than one guy feeling like that,” Campbell said. “We talked about it and I told them that you need to have this feeling and realize how much you don’t want it again.”
“The night was very down but the next day was good. The next day we were back.”
Against the Rockets, the Hornets looked a step slow but still led 30-23 at the half and put the game away with run to start the third quarter.
After Robinson’s Peyton Tindell hit a bucket to cut the lead to 30-25 the Hornets ripped off an 11-0 run to make it 41-25 with 5:08 remaining in the quarter. Williams and Allman combined to score all 11 points in the run.
“We still didn’t play our best but we didn’t play our worst. We made plays when it mattered. We made a run when it mattered and we got stops when we needed to,” Campbell said. “We played a good game but we still have fine-tuning to do in the little things.”
Williams scored 13 points and had six rebounds in the win. In 2022, Williams played more than 1,100 minutes and carried a larger scoring burden. This season he has adopted a more versatile role.
“Carter’s role changed so much from last year and he has embraced it by becoming more of an assist guy and defending the other team’s best player,” Campbell said.
Allman, who led the Hornets with 25 points and 12 rebounds in the win and leads District 23-4A in scoring at 21 points per game, also drew praise from his head coach.
“I am hugely impressed with where he’s at. I can’t be his number one fan because Coach Allman has that spot but I have to be right behind him,” Campbell said.
The Hornets twice led by 18 points in the fourth quarter and led 60-42 with three minutes left before Robinson closed the game with a 9-4 stretch.
Allman and Williams were the only Hornets to hit double-digits in scoring. Rayshon Smith and West Allman each had eight points and Shea had six points. Smith turned in one of his most efficient games of the season while adding in six assists and three rebounds. West Allman and Trae Miller each had six rebounds.
The Hornets wrapped up their regular season at China Spring on Feb. 14. A win coupled with a La Vega win would mean a one-game playoff between the Hornets and Pirates to determine second place in the district.
The Hornets are assured of finishing no worse than third – their highest district finish since 2013. They will open the playoffs on Feb. 20 or Feb. 21 against an opponent to-be-determined from District 24-4A.
While Campbell knows he has at least two games left with his squad, he’s certainly hoping for more.
“I’m happy for them, I’m proud of them, and I’m excited for them. But I don’t want it to stop.