Irion County Tops Bronte to Make Move in Crazy District Race

BRONTE, TX — You won’t find a more competitive playoff race in boys basketball than what’s going on in District 11-1A this season.

Irion County’s 46-29 win over Bronte on Friday was evidence of that as it propelled the Hornets from fifth place into a three-way tie for third with Garden City and Robert Lee.

Meanwhile, Bronte is now in sixth place after beginning the night in fourth, but the Longhorns are still only a half-game out of third.

There are six potential playoff teams battling for the four spots, and it’s going to be a dogfight to see who gets in.

“There’s so many good teams in this district, and everybody seems to be playing well right now, so it’s brutal every night,” Irion County head coach Shae Sanford said. “You better bring your A game, or you’re going to get knocked off. That makes it a lot of fun, but it makes it stressful for us coaches.”

Despite Irion County’s 17-point win over Bronte, the Hornets were actually trailing 14-10 after the first quarter and 23-17 at halftime.

They turned everything around in the third quarter to take a 34-29 lead before posting an impressive 12-0 shutout in the fourth quarter to finish off a huge win.

“I felt the key to our finish was our defense and our rebounding,” Sanford said. “That just turned things around for us. And then once we started defending and rebounding better, that kind of spurred our offense on.”

Luke Seahorn led Irion County with 18 points, while Tyson Sanford had 12 points in a strong all-around effort that included seven rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Maison Siller anchored the defense with four blocks and three steals, along with six points, five rebounds and two assists.

Bronte went ice cold in the second half to let the game get away.

“The first two quarters, we were very confident. We knew that we could win this game,” Bronte head coach Nathan Tanguma said. “And then in the third, we did not make the most of our opportunities. I know there was a wide-open missed layup and a couple missed jumpers. And then when you go back and look, we were 1-for-8 on free throws, and that’s going to kill anybody.”

After an 0-3 start to district, Bronte reeled off three straight wins — including impressive upsets over Garden City and Robert Lee — before Friday’s setback against Irion County.

“We finished with two district wins last year, and we’re already at three and looking to get five or six to get in the playoff race,” Tanguma said. “This was a big one, but this wasn’t the must-win. There’s a couple more that we can get out of here that puts us right in the mix of everything.”

Bronte is now 11-14 overall and 3-4 in district, while Irion County is 16-5, 4-4.

Like Bronte, Irion County had a slow start to district at 1-3, but the Hornets — which reached the regional semifinals last year — have rebounded to make this an interesting race as we head into the homestretch.

“We didn’t exactly finish the first half of district like we wanted and like we needed to,” Sanford said. “But I told (the players), ‘Hey, it starts all over right now,’ and we’re 2-0 in the second half and we’re just going to try to build off that.”

Irion County will be off Tuesday before hosting second-place Veribest in its next game Friday. Bronte will be at Veribest on Tuesday.

In keeping with the wild district race, Veribest lost in double overtime to Robert Lee on Friday, keeping everyone packed together in the standings. Water Valley, with a 7-1 district record, is the only one with any breathing room with a two-game lead on the field.

“I think the four teams that are going to go the playoffs are going to go very deep, and the two that miss it I think could go deep too if they made it,” Tanguma said. “I think all of us are really good in our district, and I think that’s what pushes us to be better.”

Irion County 46, Bronte 29

Irion Co. 10   7   17   12 — 46

Bronte   14   9   6   0 — 29

IRION CO. — Luke Seahorn 18, Tyson Sanford 12, Chandler Hill 4, Aiden Aldrete 6, Maison Siller 6. 

BRONTE — Raymond Williams 6, Parker Holland 7, Kyesyn Hoyt 5, Joel Pena 6, Jack Robbins 5.