Robert Moore and Chuck Thornally converge to try to stop Alamo Heights' Oliver Jones during the Greyhounds' 68-55 District 27-4A victory on Jan. 15. Photo by Marvin Pfeiffer

The Boerne Greyhounds stayed perfect in District 27-4A with wins last week over Alamo Heights and Edgewood Kennedy, but their biggest test was set to come Tuesday night against Kerrville Tivy after the View had gone to press.

Boerne took a 3-0 district record, an overall mark of 22-4 and a top ten state ranking into the game against the visiting Antlers. Kerrville countered with its own 3-0 district record, 21-4 overall mark and a spot among the state’s top 20 Class 4A teams at 19.

“It’s 3-0 playing 3-0, so it’s big,” Boerne Coach Stan Leech summed up.

If the Hounds are to continue their undefeated march through district they will have to do it without starting center Sammy Thompson. The 6’5” senior, who had shown tremendous courage playing through pain, is out for at least the duration of the district campaign with a stress fracture in his foot.

The Hounds will miss his toughness, rebounding and court awareness, but will miss the depth he provided even more. His absence means junior Chuck Thornally will get most of the minutes at center rather than spelling both Thompson and senior forward Robert Moore. Moore will also have to spend more time on the floor.

“We’ll try to get Sammy back but right now he’s in a cast and it doesn’t look good,” Leech said. “It’s just unfortunate.”

 Boerne 68, Alamo Heights 55

Alamo Heights swaggered into the Jan. 15 district contest at Boerne boasting a share of first place and an overall record of 18-5. The Mules slunk out of Greyhound gym tied for second place with Fredericksburg after the Hounds jumped on top early and never let up.

The Mules could not slow down Moore, who finished with 26 points, including an 11-for-12 performance at the free throw line. The Hounds ran off 13 unanswered points midway through the first half to pull ahead 20-6 and led 28-15 at halftime. Boerne guards Hunter Simmons and Sterling Bennett smothered Mules guard Jude Dworaczyk, holding Heights’ top scorer to just four points on the night.

“We just tried to keep a fresh guy on him,” Leech said. “We kept out of the bonus and had a good offensive night. Robert played real well and we were able to run through our sets and get a lot of good looks.”

The Mules managed to get within six points with about four minutes left in the game, but Moore responded with a pair of buckets that pushed the lead back to ten. Heights never seriously threatened after that. Boerne shooting guard Daniel Rogers joined Moore in double figures with 17 points.

Boerne 53, Kennedy 48

Retired Texas Longhorn football Coach Darrell Royal once compared playing the Rice Owls to battling roaches.

“What they don’t carry off they fall into and mess up,” Royal said of the Owls, who always gave his team fits.

Leech has to feel the same way about playing at Kennedy.

“They’re just not a good match up for us,” Leech said. “They’re quick getting to their spots, and when they hit their outside shots we’re in trouble.”

Boerne found itself in a world of trouble early on, as the hot-shooting Rockets built a 12 point first half lead before letting the Hounds close the gap to six at intermission. The Hounds finally took their first lead of the game with just two minutes left. Moore tied the score with a lay-up and was fouled on the shot. The free throw gave Boerne a one-point lead. Thornally was fouled after grabbing a defensive rebound on the Rockets’ next possession, and made both shots to stretch Boerne’s lead to three. Kennedy missed a three with about 14 seconds to play, and was forced to foul Rogers when he got the rebound. Rogers made both shots to nail down the win.