Canyon Cougars boys' basketball

I'm going to start posting my newspaper and whatever else articles in my blog. Here is the first: a recap of Canyon High School boys' basketball tonight, which will run in tomorrow's Herald-Zeitung.

By Chris Boehm
The Herald-Zeitung

NEW BRAUNFELS, TEXAS - The Canyon Cougars may not have come away with a win Friday night, but it sure felt like it.
The Cougars (2-6) led early in the second quarter against Boerne, and stayed within striking distance most of the night before falling 58-48 in their first game of the River City Classic.
Canyon coach Kenny Rotzler was proud of the team’s effort coming off a 19-point loss to Austin High Tuesday night.
“This was the best we’ve played so far,” Rotzler said. “I felt we took a step forward.”
The Cougars trailed 36-48 with 6:10 left in the game, but put together a 9-0 run to get within three points.
Junior forward Chris Kues hit a pair of free throws after being fouled on drive to start the rally at the 5:52 mark. Canyon stole the Greyhounds’ inbound pass moments later, and Kues hit a wide-open inside shot off a quick pass from senior post Dustin Foerster.
Ryan Mead added a lay-up off another steal to make it 48-42, then senior forward Sean Dailey nailed a three-pointer from the corner with 4:05 left in the game. Dailey hit multiple key threes in the game, and finished with 18 points, eight rebounds, three steals, one block and one assist.
“He did really well shooting for us,” Rotzler said. “I feel he can become our go-to guy.”
Dailey said he was comfortable shooting Friday night and felt the team as whole played well offensively.
Canyon picks up tournament action today against Lee (7-5) at 10 a.m. and Judson (10-4) at 2:30 p.m.
“We need to do the same thing on offense,” Dailey said of the upcoming games. “We moved the ball around and didn’t take stupid shots (Friday).”
Mead finished second offensively for the Cougars, totaling 11 points, two assists and one steal. Kues notched 10 points and two blocks.
Turnovers against Boerne’s full-court press did Canyon in; the team gave the ball up 19 times on the night.
“We did a better job against the pressure but we still turned it over too many times and they know that,” Rotzler said. “You can’t give up 20 offensive possessions and expect to beat teams.”
The Greyhounds were led by senior Robert Moore, who scored a game-high 27 points despite being held to eight in the first half. The Cougars’ zone defense was successful most of the night at frustrating Moore, who missed his only shot from the outside.
“We did a pretty good job against him,” Rotzler said. “He has great body control and knows how to make contact and get old-fashioned three-point plays.”
The three-point deficit was the closest Canyon would get in the fourth quarter. Following Dailey’s three, Moore hit a pair of free throws, the first of nine straight points he scored for the Greyhounds.
“In the fourth quarter we had to stretch our defense and (Moore) got some good looks and made some great plays,” Rotzler said.
Canyon led early in the game, after two Mead steals led to quick baskets. Boerne tied the game at eight points apiece on three-pointer from Isaac Evans, which Dailey responded to with his own three.
“Getting the early lead was important,” Rotzler said. “After that our guys could say ‘hey, we can play against this team.’”
Boerne led 14-11 after one quarter, but Canyon tied the score once again to open the period, on a three by junior Wes Rhodes. Boerne would go on to build a six-point lead before Canyon closed it to 22-24 on a three by Kues. A Daniel Rogers three-pointer put Boerne back up by five, with the first half ending on a one-armed, full-court heave by Dailey that almost went in as the buzzer sounded.