BASTROP – Taylor High School boys varsity basketball put in work on June 26 as the Ducks headed south down Highway 95 for another week of summer basketball league held at Bastrop Middle School.
On Monday evening, Taylor had a much deeper squad for scrimmages against Cedar Creek High School at 6 p.m. and then an 8 p.m. match versus Smithville High School. The previous week the Ducks were limited since a handful of players were in College Station competing at the state 7-on-7 football tournament.
Against Cedar Creek, the Ducks did a lot of scoring in the paint with senior Treos Richardson, senior Antonio Torres and junior Harrison Tate. Richardson, who is an extremely athletic player with a lot of potential, was a constant scoring threat for Taylor.
However, the Ducks were hindered against the Eagles in the first half due to costly turnovers and allowing second-chance points allowed Cedar Creek to jump out to a 32-18 lead at halftime.
After making adjustments at the half, the Ducks came out with a whole new attitude in the second half and went on a 19-4 scoring run to take a 37-36 lead. This was a backand- forth affair the rest of the way but Cedar Creek was able to make some timely threepointers to hold on for a 52-47 victory over Taylor.
In Taylor’s second game of the evening against Smithville, the Ducks went against an undermanned Smithville team that only had five active players make the trip to Bastrop. Despite the Ducks falling behind quickly 6-0 after two straight treys from the Tigers, it was Taylor in complete control the rest of the game.
The Ducks played great defense for the majority of the game as the Tigers searched for answers on offense. Richardson, who scored relentlessly in the first half as Taylor took a 42-15 lead at halftime, did not play in the second half so more bench players could get some quality minutes. With a comfortable lead, Taylor was able to coast to a commanding 61-45 win over Smithville.
