Lions top consolation bracket

The Dublin Lions claimed the consolation championship at the Dublin Athletic Booster Club Tournament after roping in the Tolar Rattlers 50-47 on Saturday, Dec. 2.

“Our defense was the reason for our success,” said head basketball coach Wes Grisham. “These guys are really starting to understand how we can be dangerous to other teams. I’m really proud of their hard work and being coachable.”

Alex Teten led scoring with 31 points, 4 steals and an assist.

Kaden Gaitan - 9 points, 7 steals, 9 deflections, 5 assists and 4 rebounds Hunter Jones - 4 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals Dane Lewis - 3 points, 3 rebounds Aidan Hernandez - 3 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 charge Aiden Salyer - 4 rebounds, 1 blocked shot, 1 charge The Lions got to this final tourney battle after outrunning Coleman 75-69.

“It was a physical battle on the court but we managed to run them out of air,” said Grisham. “We took a 20 point lead going into the 4th Quarter. Coleman made some bigshotsandcreatedturnovers to make a scare but our guys are still learning on clock management and using opportunities.”

Teten also led this game with 28 points.

Gaitan - 13 Jones - 9 Gilman - 8 Salyer – 5 Lewis - 4 Jovan Balderas 4 Carson Ivie - 2 Francisco Garcia – 2 Prior to this, the Lions narrowly fell to the Goldthwaite Eagles in double overtime, 89-86.

“That was a fun game, win or lose” exclaimed Grisham. “Two really good teams battled it out and was fun to be there. It was almost the atmosphere of a playoff game which you can’t simulate in practice. This game is going to help us later down the road when we have a close game on the line.”

Gaitan led scoring in this battle with 21 points, 11 rebounds, 5 steals and 4 assists.

Jones - 19 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals Gilman - 12 points, 4 rebounds Hernandez - 12 points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals Teten - 15 points, 3 rebounds Lewis - 2 points 3 rebounds Grisham credits the successes of these games to the opening game against Brownwood, which Dublin had already bested this season. Brownwood claimed the W 67-62 after Dublin had been up by 20. “That game was honestly a wake up call and helped us refocus what we do.”