ANDREW SALMI [email protected]
Taylor Middle School is set to host a boys middle school basketball tournament Saturday, Jan. 20 for both the seventh and eighthgrade teams. The eighth graders will host their tournament at the Taylor High School main and auxiliary gyms beginning at 8 a.m. and the seventh graders will be at the Taylor Middle School gyms at the same time.
“I believe this tournament was definitely needed for our boys basketball program so that our athletes could showcase their basketball talent to the community of Taylor and play against some bigger schools that would give us some tougher competition,” said Taylor Middle School Athletic Coordinator Peter Reese. “Our boys basketball program hadn’t hosted a tournament in 10-plus years. Our boys are excited to be able to play in front of their hometown.”
The Ducks will welcome teams from Hutto Farley Middle School, Lago Vista Middle School, Georgetown Wagner Middle School, Georgetown Forbes Middle School, Georgetown Tippit Middle School, Hays Chapa Middle School, Manor Middle School, Manor New Tech Middle School, Manor Decker Middle School, Salado Middle School and Academy Middle School.
“Last year, this group went undefeated in seventh grade with coach Rollan Espinoza and I started telling the boys we needed to have a tournament,” Reese said. “For the past few weeks, we have been putting the tournament together. I asked the boys who they wanted to play and their response was they wanted to play the best teams at our tournament. So with that being said, these young men are competitors and they are up for the challenge against 5A and 6A teams.”
Reese is very proud of his middle school kids and what makes them so special as a group of young Taylor studentathletes.
“The relationships that we have built from day one in football and being able to win district,” Reese said. “Our athletes trusting their teammates and coaches. It’s a two-way street and it’s our responsibility to pursue a real relationship with each athlete and make sure we hold them accountable at all times in the classroom and on the basketball court. Our entire coaching staff feels relationships are important not only for the athlete’s growth as a positive, ethical and moral person but our entire program’s performance as a whole. Our kids feed off each other’s success and they all play so unselfishly, which tells me this team has UNITY which is a quality of a champion.”
The Ducks’ eighthgrade team will host Tippit at 9 a.m. next Saturday at the high school main gym, while the seventh-grade squad will also take on Tippit at 10 a.m. in the middle school auxiliary gym.
