ANDREW SALMI andrew.salmi@granitemedia partners.com
The Taylor High School boys varsity basketball team picked up its second victory of the 2023-24 season in thrilling fashion Tuesday night as the Ducks rallied to an 86-82 win at home against the visiting Texans.
Taylor got off to a very fast start in the first quarter with a 21-11 lead and was up by as many as 17 points over Wimberley in the second quarter.
However, the Texans began to rally in the second quarter to get within a 37-29 deficit at halftime.
In the third quarter, Wimberley’s offense got going as the Texans pulled ahead of the Ducks but Taylor senior Treos Richardson had a powerful one-handed slam dunk right before the buzzer to get his team within 60-57.
In a back-and-forth affair during the fourth quarter, the Ducks and Texans traded blows as the crowd at the Duck Pond remained loud and on its feet throughout. Down the final stretch, Taylor got critical baskets from Richardson, junior T.J. Whybrew and fellow junior Eli Laurence that either tied the game up or gave the Ducks the lead late in the game. Laurence’s go-ahead three-pointer with less than a minute left and two clutch free throws from Richardson gave the Ducks a four-point lead with a few seconds left to ice the game.
The Ducks got balanced scoring throughout the night as Laurence had 21 points, Whybrew had 21 points of his own and Richardson also finished with 20 points against Wimberley. Taylor freshman Landon Coulter scored nine points in his first game at the varsity level, while juniors Kylon Harris and Harrison Tate each had seven points in the victory.
The Ducks under Head Coach Stephen Gibson will finish up competition over the weekend at the Taylor Tournament with recaps of those games to be covered in the next edition of the Taylor Press sports section. Taylor will then compete Tuesday, Dec. 12 at 6:30 p.m. on the road against Leander High School.
