Livingston basketball had its season end in the bi-district round Monday versus Houston Washington in a 79-54 contest that was closer than the final score.
For three quarters, the Lions fought with the state-ranked Eagles, but a run in the last minute of the third period carried over into the fourth for a more lopsided result.
The first quarter began with Livingston holding a 7-2 lead, but Washington went on an 8-0 run midway through the first quarter. T.J. Garner carried the point column, scoring 10 of the Lions’ 14 points in the period.
The Lions did a good job of breaking the press and on the defensive end, but struggled rebounding the basketball and they hurried shots. Still, they were able to keep pace with the state’s No. 6 team. Ziekus Garner led the Lions in the second with seven points.
By halftime, Livingston had given up around 18 points off second-chance shots. Yet, there were plenty of positives, going into the break down just four at 35-31.
“The zone was designed to keep us out of foul trouble and try to maximize our rebounding, because I knew that was going to be an issue coming in,” Livingston coach Sean Berry said. “Ziekus (Garner) is one of the best rebounders in the state and I'll put him up against anybody, so we went to the zone to try to maximize the rebounds. They did a good job of creating a shield, but the ball was bouncing over their heads. I kept telling them, ‘Long shots equal long rebounds.’
“I don't think (Washington) knew what they were in store for, and I don't think that they’ve had it that close at halftime except for the three or four losses that they’ve got. We played a heck of a game in that first half. We were hitting shots and then hit our cold spell at the wrong time.”
The contest was tied at 37-37 early in the third quarter, but a 7-0 run to end the period put Washington up 55-43 going into the fourth. The Eagles would outscore Livingston 24-11 over the final eight minutes.
T.J. Garner led the team with 20 points, while Ziekus Garner had 13 and Corey Dirden eight.
At the beginning of the season, Berry said experience was the team’s weakness. With a season’s experience behind them and some playoff action, he feels that will change next year.
“I could not have asked for a more successful season,” he said. “We end the year at 19-16. I couldn't have asked for a better season as a first-year coach. Was I perfect? Not even close, but these guys worked hard for me, and they believed in the message. They bought in and you can't fault their effort. For my seniors – Carlos (Kuate) Deondre Walker, Sam (Pedigo) Uriel (Tatum) and Roberto (Ramirez) – I've known those guys since they were sophomores and coached them on the J.V. and they came out and worked hard. The kid that's special to me is J.T. (Randolph). Me and him bonded from the first moment I walked in the door and he's been my guy. He's gone out there and done everything I've asked him to. He's gone out there, giving maximum effort. Cory (Dirden) being a senior and being a first-year player on varsity, I mean, the kid did fantastic. I couldn't ask for a better scorer.
“Next year I'm going to have two solid guards (Ziekus Garner and T.J. Garner) and a post (Evan Schmidt) and they've got good experience. We'll polish them up and we'll get them ready, and next year we'll have a solid corps. Then, we’ve got some tremendous athletes coming up behind them, so we'll get a couple of those guys onto the varsity team and start getting them the experience. We'll just start working, and next year, maybe we come back and we're a higher seed and we get somebody that can vault us through the playoffs.”
