‘Stangs shake off rust to pull out home win

The Sweetwater boys basketball team Tuesday had its first game in 10 days and first with its full team, as a few players started late due to the success of the football team that went two rounds in the 2021 playoffs.

But Sweetwater still had enough to knock off Pecos, 63-54, at Mustang Gym as the Mustangs improved to 3-1. Harrison Foster scored 25 points to lead the victory, even though he was one of the handful of players in his first game on the court. “We were extremely rusty,” said Evan Grantham, in his first year as Sweetwater’s coach after serving the last two years as an assistant.

“It showed especially defensively. We are still trying to figure out how to play together and do the right things.”

However, Grantham noted, “It’s always good to get a win, especially when you don’t play well.”

Although the Mustangs trailed Pecos on Tuesday until midway through the first quarter, they never lost the lead after Chris Avila scored to give them an 8-7 lead thanks to Foster, a returning starter who had 17 of his 25 points after halftime.

“One guy that stuck out was Harrison,” Grantham said.

“He was just unguardable tonight. Not only was he awesome on offense, but he led with his communication and defensive intensity.”

The coach also had this to say about about Foster, a 6-4 senior and two-time all-district perfomer for the Mustangs: “He is about to have a monster year.”

Two other returning players, Tate Thompson and Chris Avila, had 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Grantham also said that Thompson helped on defense by getting steals and loose balls. “We are going to continue to improve as a team and build chemistry together,” he said. “Basketball is a race to March, not December. We want to peak in February and March, so patience and trusting the process is going to be a key for us early.”

Stason Hernandez had eight points, Malik Brown and Jadyn Forbes three, Armando Torres two and Brendin Atkins one to complete the Mustangs’ scoring.