By Mike Reeder
View Sports Writer

The Boerne Greyhound basketball team seized sole possession of first place in District 27-4A Tuesday night with a resounding 45-37 home court victory over Kerrville Tivy.

The Antlers came into the contest riding a 10-game winning streak that included a 3-0 district record. They left the packed Boerne gym tied for second place at 3-1 with Alamo Heights, a team Boerne defeated last week. Boerne extended its own winning streak to 14, including four wins in district.

Both Boerne and Tivy are state-ranked. The Greyhounds have risen to No. 7 in the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches poll, and the Antlers are ranked 18th. Boerne improved to 23-4 overall while Tivy fell to 21-5.

“We knew we weren’t going to lack intensity coming into this game,” said Boerne forward Robert Moore.

Boerne center Chuck Thornally called the win a “statement game,” and the final score spoke for itself. The Antlers had no answer for Boerne’s quick guards, who forced one turnover after another while drawing nearly all of the early fouls.

Greyhound guards Hunter Simmons and Sterling Bennett led the defensive charge against Tivy sophomore sensation Jonathan Perry. Perry still led all scorers with 13 points, but it was well below his average, and not nearly what the Antlers needed to have a chance.

“Me and Hunter just needed to get in there and get in his grill, climb in his shirt, and get him out of his game,” Bennett said. “I think we did.”

The Hounds jumped on top 6-2 in the first quarter and quickly stretched the margin to 12-4. Most of the scores came on layups off some dazzling passes out of Boerne’s motion offense. Tivy did manage to tie the game at 17 late in the first half, after Moore drew a second foul and went to the bench. The Antlers missed a free throw that would have given them the lead, and the Hounds responded with a 9-2 run to go up by seven at intermission. The momentum carried over into the third quarter, as Moore fed Thornally for a layup that stretched the lead to nine. The Hounds led by 11 entering the final period, and began spreading out their offense to force Tivy to defend the perimeter. That opened up passing lanes inside for some easy shots, as the Hounds went up by as much as 15.

“They were a little over-aggressive and we were able to find gaps in their defense and cut to the back door,” said Moore, whose 12 points matched Thornally’s 12 for the team lead.

Tivy took advantage of a couple of careless passes and a highly questionable goal tending call to cut the margin to 10 with four minutes left. But that’s as close as it got until only 11 seconds remained, when Tivy’s Conner Overby hit an off-balance jumper to get within eight. It was far too little and way too late to do anything other than make the game appear closer than it really was.