Mustangs seeking first playoff win since 1985

Posted Monday, Feb. 18, 2013 0 comments  Print Reprints
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By John English

Special to the Courier

The Grapevine boys basketball team wrapped up the third-place playoff spot last Tuesday with a victory over Irving Nimitz, and coach Kevin Starnes said he was really pleased with the way his team persevered.

Trailing at one point in the game, the Mustangs went on a 12-0 run in the second half to regain the lead and never looked back.

“We kind of came out sluggish in the game,” Starnes said. “We had a six- to eight-point lead for most of the game, but they actually made a run on us, and took a seven-point lead in the fourth quarter.

“I guess that kind of woke us up, because we proceeded to go on a 12-point run and ended up winning the game by five points. It's not the outing that you'd like, but I was glad to see their resilience at the end.”

Grapevine finished district with a 10-4 mark, and Starnes said he is pretty satisfied with how the Mustangs performed throughout the regular season.

“I think there were a couple of games that we could have won or should have won, but overall, I would say it was a success,” Starnes said. “We won 22 games on the season and made the playoffs. We were just one game out of first place, which speaks to the parity in our district.

“I just think that we got a lot better over the course of the season, which, as a coach, is exactly what you want to see.”

Starnes said the last time that Grapevine won a boys playoff basketball game was in 1985, and played Flower Mound on Tuesday night after the print deadline.

The Grapevine coach said that regardless of the outcome of Tuesday's game with Flower Mound, he would like for his players to take away a couple of important points from this season.

“I hope that the guys take away from it the expectation of winning and making the playoffs as an annual thing,” Starnes said. “I think one of the things that we have tried to ingrain in our kids is the expectation of winning every night, and competing that way.

“I think that this year we got better at that as the season went on, and hopefully, the guys that come back next year can keep that same expectation, and even take it a step further.”

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