Sports

The Texan hoopsters are currently riding a seven-game winning streak after a loss to Austin Travis two weeks ago.

They captured the Marion Tournament title by virtue of wins over Somerset and district-rival Canyon Lake over the weekend.

Guard Peyton Anderson led the way in their 65-58 tournament opening win against Somerset by tallying 14 points while Davin Masur added 13 as the Texans built an early 29-20 halftime lead and then held on late as the Bulldogs made a late run to keep things close.

Senior forward Will Simpson scored ten points as Wimberley withstood a 24-point performance from Somerset’s Marcus Rivera to advance to the tournament final where they beat Canyon Lake 59-52.

Although Texas State and UTSA won't meet again on the gridiron for another two years, the men's basketball match-up on Wednesday was a stark reminder that the rivalry still burns deeply between the two schools.

Texas State (3-1) got a game-high 16 points from senior Emani Gant and Kavin Gilder-Tilbury added 15 as the Bobcats thumped UTSA 76-53 on Wednesday night in another chapter of the storied series between the campuses separated by less than sixty miles of highway.

Already leading 39-21 at the break thanks to a buzzer-beating long distance 3-pointer to close out the first half by Tilbury, Texas State opened the second half on a 10-2 spurt with Gant, Cameron Naylor and Ethan Montalvo all scoring buckets during the run.

Time on the volleyball court is more precious now than ever for Macy Maniscalo.

Three months ago, as her teammates wrapped up their annual volleyball picnic and were celebrating the conclusion of grueling two-a-days - a quick ride with six of her teammates nearly proved to be tragic. 

As Macy and the small group of volleyball players piled into an All-Terrain vehicle that afternoon, nobody could have predicted what would happen almost five minutes later.

According to the Lady Texan senior, she was one of three passengers in the front seat of the vehicle that headed down a dirt road dubbed ‘Grasshopper Lane’ at breakneck speed.

San Antonio - When Sinton cornerback Jayden Villa intercepted Texan QB Davin Masur’s errant pass to halt Wimberley’s last ditch comeback drive with only 32 seconds left in the game, it effectively ended a magical run that nobody saw coming after Iowa Park saddled them with a 0-6 start by virtue of their 29-17 win in San Angelo back on October 2.

Villa and the Pirates held on to punch their ticket to the regional finals with a 29-21 win over the Texans.

Sinton will now face district rival Cuero at 8pm at the Alamodome in San Antonio on Friday night.

The road ends in the regional quarterfinals for the second consecutive season for Wimberley against Sinton after they had eliminated both Pearsall and heavily-favored Orange Grove in the first two rounds.

SAN ANTONIO - Senior forward Will Simpson scored 25 points and Peyton Anderson added 14 as the Texans bounced back from a loss at Austin Travis on Friday night with a 71-63 win at SA Randolph on Monday.

The Ro-Hawks finished 32-4 last season and were the Class 3-A state runners-up, losing in the final to Brock High School.

The Texans (2-1) rode Simpson from the opening tip as Wimberley had their way inside against the smaller Ro-Hawks.

Wimberley held a 27-19 advantage after a layup by Craig Huey late in the second quarter, before the Ro-Hawks answered back with a 9-0 run capped by a 3-point basket by Braelin Barnes to briefly take their only lead of the game 29-28.

VICTORIA –  It was an intense playoff rematch that offered countless strange twists and turns.

But the most unusual sequence on a chilly night of football may have been the biggest play of the season for Wimberley.

Gavin Martinez’s wherewithal to calmly scoop up a botched snap - as Hugo Huesca was poised to boot a 19-yard field goal that would have given Wimberley a commanding 17-7 advantage with under three minutes to go - and then ramble in for a most unlikely 5-yard TD is something that many Texan fans who were in attendance will probably be talking about for years to come.

Austin – Poor free throw shooting and key turnovers down the stretch proved costly for the Texans as they lost a nail-biter on the road to Travis 52-51 in a nip-and-tuck affair that saw several lead changes for the majority of a contest that featured two very evenly matched teams.

Conor Stratton scored a team-high 15 points, including the game tying 3-pointer from the right wing with thirteen seconds left, after Travis forward Mykal Jones missed the back end of a two-shot foul.

But on the next inbounds play, Travis guard Breonn Watson made the first end of the two-shot foul and then was able to force a mad scramble for the ball as time expired allowing the Rebels to hold on for the victory.

Watson led all scorers with 16 points.

San Marcos — Tyler Jones and Lawrence White connected for a pair of touchdown passes as Texas State snapped a three-game losing streak with a 16-3 win over Louisiana-Monroe on Senior Night in front of 12,003 faithful fans at Bobcat Stadium on Thursday night.

White was among several seniors who made a big impact in their last home appearance as Bobcats. He finished with five receptions for a career-high 83 yards receiving and scored on catches of 20 and 18 yards.

Senior Aaron Shaw contributed his first career interception - a 73-yard pick and return in the fourth quarter - that Texas State head coach Dennis Franchione called the 'biggest play of the game'. It set up White’s crucial second TD pass that essentially salted the game away from the Bobcats.

Senior captain Will Simpson led a balanced Wimberley attack by scoring a game-high 13 points as the Texans opened their season with a blowout win over Llano 75-49 Tuesday night at Texan Gym.

 “We caught fire in the third quarter and that proved to be the difference.” Texans head coach Jeff McDorman said. “It’s always good to win that first one.”

The Texans raced out to a 19-5 first quarter advantage behind four points from Peyton Anderson and a pair of three pointers from both Seth Hooper and Simpson.

Simpson continued his offensive assault in the second quarter by scoring eight points – six from inside the paint – as the Texans took a 36-23 lead at the break.

Texas State head men's basketball coach Danny Kaspar was in a totally different space a two years ago in Nacogdoches while still coaching at Stephen F. Austin.

His team had just completed a dominant run through the Southland Conference and despite being upset in the post-season tournament final by Northwestern State they were offered an invitation to play in the National Invitational Tournament against Stanford.

The likelihood of Kaspar securing a coveted five-year deal from the school that he had thrust into the national spotlight seemed like a mere formality.

Though they went on to lose a razor-thin decision to the Cardinal in the first round, Kaspar was named Southland Conference Coach of the Year.

Kaspar's body of work at the school read like a Hall of Fame resume.