Friendswood drops district opener to Dickinson 62-47


FRIENDSWOOD — Friendswood was hoping to get started in the winning column in their District 24-6A opener against Dickinson, but the Gators proved they had too much fire-power over the Mustangs in a 62-47 win.

The Mustangs were certainly in the game after the first quarter as Dickinson had a slim 14-11 lead.

But the second quarter saw the Gators take control and they never looked back as they outscored the Mustangs 22-6 for a 36-17 lead at intermission.

Dickinson came out hot in the second quarter outscoring Friendswood 9-0 to get things started.

"I think there's an element of speed and athleticism that make all the other points moot when you think about it," Mustang first-year head coach Cliff Owens said. "I thought Dickinson came out more active than us.

"The shots they missed, they just went and got them. We got behind early, and that's not a team you want to get behind early."

Poor shooting by the Mustangs was another thing that contributed to the Friendswood woes as they have shown an edge in hitting the 3-pointer this season, but the 'Stangs hit only 1-of-10 in the first half.

The speed and athleticism of Dickinson also proved to be a big difference in the game as the Gators were able to initiate several fast breaks that resulted in easy baskets.

In the second half, Friendswood actually trimmed the lead to 43-29 with just over four minutes left in the period as Alex Dehoyos nailed a 3-pointer.

But Dickinson responded with an 11-2 run thanks to Tramon Mark scoring eight consecutive points while teammate Ronny Nguyen hitting a 3-pointer at the buzzer making the scored 54-31 entering the final frame.

"Missing those 3-pointers…that's it right there," Owens said. "That's our Achilles' heel. A lot of those were pretty decent looks, too. Dickinson puts so much pressure on the ball, if you can just get past that first layer you have a chance. But Coach Wilson does such a good job, he's so deep, and he knows how to use his guys.

"Even though it was only a three-point game after the first quarter, I felt like we expended more energy getting it to 14-11 than they did being up three points."

The Gators had a 23-point lead going into the fourth quarter. Wilson decided to put in the second string for most of the fourth quarter.

The Gators were led by Mark, who had 15 points. The Gators' Byron Staten had 13 points.

The Mustangs' Alex Dehoyos finished the game with 20 points, but was the only Mustang in double figures.

Friendswood falls to 13-7 on the season and 0-1 in district. Dickinson improves to 15-5 overall and 1-0 in league action.