The Blanco boys basketball team split a pair of games last week in district play.
The Panthers outscored the Llano Jackets 43-22 Tuesday, Feb. 4 and lost to the Ingram Warriors 38-35 in an overtime battle Friday, Feb. 7. Blanco is 17-10 overall and 5-4 in District 5-3A games. Comfort is in first place with an 8-1 district record. Ingram is second with a 7-2 record, while Blanco is third and Brady is fourth at 5-4. Llano is 2-7 in district play and Florence is 0-9.
Against the Jackets, the Panthers led 10-6 at the end of the first quarter. Blanco scored 16 in the second to lead 26-11 at the half. The Panthers added eight in the third and nine points in the fourth. Colby Murphree was high-point scorer with nine points on three-of-six shooting from three-point range. Justin Karnes and Robbie Jimenez each scored eight points. Trey Atchley, Levi Golla and Isaiah Mancha each scored six points.
Atchley and Jimenez paced the team with seven rebounds each. Diego Soto had four rebounds. Gavin Luker, Murphree and Mancha each made three rebounds. Cody Waltrip and Karnes both had two rebounds. Murphree made five assists to his teammates. Atchley had two assists. Golla and Karnes each made one assist. Karnes grabbed three steals. Golla and Jimenez each had two steals. Luker and Mancha both made one steal. Murphree blocked one shot.
The game against Ingram was a nail-biter. Blanco led 12-7 at the end of the first quarter and maintained the five point lead, 19-14, at halftime. Ingram rallied in the second half and led 28-24 late in the game. Blanco fought back to tie the game at 33 with the help of a three-pointer by Mancha. Murphree hit a jumper in the key during the overtime, but Ingram held on for the win.
Waltrip was the leading scorer for Blanco with 13 points. He was five-of-five on two-point attempts and three-of-four from the free throw line. Murphree and Luker each scored six points. Karnes sank five points, Mancha scored three and Atchley added two. Luker led the team with eight rebounds. Atchley and Murphree each had five rebounds. Golla made four rebounds. Jimenez and Waltrip each had two boards. Luker made seven assists. Atchley and Karnes each had one assist. Jimenez made four steals. Luker had two steals. Atchley, Golla, Waltrip and Murphree each made one steal. Waltrip blocked two shots. Luker, Karnes and Murphree each blocked one shot.
The Blanco junior varsity one team defeated Ingram 34-22. The junior varsity two team lost to the Warriors, 32-18.
The Panthers hosted the Comfort Bobcats Tuesday after press time. Blanco will play the bi-district round of the playoffs either Monday or Tuesday of next week.
