BUDA — In what the local community would describe as being nothing short of a miraculous season, the Thrall Tigers (30-5) continued to raise the bar for Thrall athletics over the weekend, clinching their first-ever final-four appearance. Saturday’s 66-45 blowout win over the Santa Maria Cougars (20-13) sent the Tigers to the UIL state championships in San Antonio beginning Friday, March 8.
“I knew before the season that I had a really good team with a lot of experience and that had played together for several years,” said Thrall Coach Charles Tindol. “They have a lot of chemistry, and I felt if we could stay healthy, we could make a run in the playoffs. I don’t know that I thought we would make the state tournament at the beginning of the season, but I definitely thought we could make a good run.”
Using their height advantage Saturday, the Tigers outscored the smaller Cougars 40-12 in the paint. Dawson Meiske scored 23 in the championship game. He had 13 in the opening period, which helped the Tigers to an 11-0 run that blew the game open midway through the first quarter. Carson Ball finished off the first quarter scoring with a threepoint jumper from the corner with 17 seconds on the clock that gave the Tigers a 26-14 lead.
