By Tyah Davis
On January 31st one of the biggest basketball games in the city was played. With almost 1800+ tickets sold within the first 30 minutes of ticket sales, the Gators and the Southwood Cowboys played their first rivalry district game of the season. These two teams have been rivals since The Ranch became a part of the 1-5A district. The Shreve boys basketball team’s district record was 6-2 and Southwood boys were 8-0. The Gators were determined to end that winning streak for the Cowboys.
After the victory of Shreve’s girls basketball team, the boys went head to head to see who really runs Shreveport. The start for the game was a hardship for the Gators with the Cowboys having a 11-0 lead until the last two minutes of the quarter. The Gators put some points on the board with the result at the end of the first quarter score of 11-5.
The Gators’ fans were hon edge because of the bad start of the game. They did not expect how the results of this game would be. Especially from the height of the Cowboys’ Jeremiah Evans, and the ball handling of Maurice ‘Moe’ Carson.
Once the second quarter started, the Gators finally had the chance to redeem themselves to prove whose house the Cowboys were at. Before halftime the Gators went on a 11-0 run the first 6 minutes of the quarter causing the score to be tied 16-16 at half.
Towards the end of 3rd quarter Jyrin Sowell got an wide open dunk, giving the Gators the lead of the game once and for all.
With the advantage of the crowd of the Gator-loving fans, the boys basketball team was able to capture a victory of 51-31 against the Cowboys, pulling the Gators within one game of the district leaders. They will square off again at The Ranch in a week for another epic battle.