HOUNDS FEND OFF LEOPARDS TO ADVANCE TO 2A DII FINAL FOUR

Canyon, TX— The 2A DII Regional Final pitted two great teams against each other when Gruver, who had come into the game without a loss on the season, taking on New Home; a traditional power house that made it to the State Semifinals last season before falling to Lipan. This game was set to be a instant classic.

Gruver Senior Brock Butler on the attack- Jasone Pearson (C)

In the first quarter, the Leopards started out with a three-point make from Wyatt Jones and then the Hounds closed the quarter on a 14-0 run; a run that was led by Brock Butler’s seven points in that spurt to end the first with Gruver up, 14-3.

In the second quarter after being down 19-6, the Leopards showed some fight with a 8-0 run to cut the lead to 19-14, midway through the second tilt with consecutive threes coming from Wyatt and Zack Armes. After a Hound timeout, Butler hit another three and that paved the way for a 9-6 advantage the rest of the quarter for Gruver, who took a 28-20 lead into halftime.

In the third, the Greyhounds added to their lead after holding on an early charge where the Leopards cut the lead to three before Butler and Mason Lankford scored critical buckets to keep Gruver with a steady lead that was 38-29, heading into the final quarter.

In the fourth, buckets by Lankford and Quinn Conyers pushed the lead to 43-29 early in the quarter over New Home before the Hounds closed it out with an efficient 52-35 win to advance to the State Semifinals where they will play an opponent TBD to have a shot at the 2A DII State title game in San Antonio on next Thursday at 5:00pm at the Alamodome.