It was a bittersweet night for the Taylor Ducks varsity basketball team as it closed its season with a 55-48 victory over Jarrell on Friday, Feb. 13 at Taylor High School.
Junior forward Landon Coulter led all scorers with 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting.
The Ducks finished the season 3-9 in district play, missing the postseason for the second consecutive year.
Seniors Kadrien Deary, Mario Alvarez and Braylon Rivers all saw playing time in their final high school basketball game.
Deary gave Taylor an early spark with a threepointer to put the Ducks up 5-0. Rivers later helped Taylor regain the lead in the second quarter with a three-pointer, making it 19-16. Both players finished with five points each.
Taylor extended its lead to 29-18 late in the second quarter when sophomore Markell Fitzgerald hit a threepointer. Fitzgerald added 15 points for the game, finishing a strong debut season at the varsity level.
The Ducks continued to pull away in the third quarter as a layup from Coulter and a three-pointer from Fitzgerald made it 36-18. Freshman Elijah Afenkhena showcased his athleticism with a poster dunk to push the lead to 42-21.
Jarrell attempted a late comeback, cutting the deficit to eight points in the fourth, but an-and-one layup from Coulter sealed the victory.
Despite a challenging season, Taylor’s future looks bright with key players Fitzgerald, Coulter and Afenkhena returning next year.
Taylor will also move to what head coach Stephen Gibson considers a more suitable district, facing teams including Austin Achieve; Manor New Tech; and Eastside, LBJ, Northeast and Travis of the Austin Independent School District.
“We are all in similar situations where we have to share players from the football field, whereas in the district we are in now, they have guys who only play basketball,” Gibson said.
