Grapevine boys' last surge leaves Haltom behind

By Bruce Unrue

Special to the Star-Telegram

GRAPEVINE -- With no fewer than six teams jammed together in a battle for the final two playoff spots in District 6-5A, there is no room for error.

The Grapevine Mustangs (17-12, 6-6) took a major step in separating themselves from the rest of that pack with a 63-49 victory at home Friday night against Haltom (6-14, 4-6).

The Mustangs jumped to an early lead and withstood every rally the Buffalos threw at them. Haltom closed its deficit to three points twice, including once in the third quarter, but Grapevine had an answer each time.

"I thought we really played together tonight, shared the ball and played good team basketball," Grapevine coach Kevin Starnes said afterward. "We moved the ball around and kept them guessing on defense."

The excessive ball movement did cost the Mustangs almost 20 turnovers, but Haltom also had 20 turnovers.

Grapevine got double-figure scoring from junior point guard Kaleb Castro (15), junior Alex Griesen (13) and 6-foot-9 senior Jared Lowe (10). Griesen and Castro combined for 20 of the Mustangs '31 second-half points.

For Haltom, Shai'qi Burden finished with 16 points, but was limited after a 10-point first half.

Grapevine led 32-27 at the half -- the Buffalos stayed close by making 4-of-9 from 3-point range -- and the Mustangs opened the third quarter with a 10-2 run. However, Haltom made a 10-0 run to make it close again. The Mustangs countered that with a 9-0 run.

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