Warriors finding identity

The Washington Warriors boys basketball team won two of three games at the Longhorn Invitational Basketball Tournament.

They defeated Lindsay, Texas (63-47) and Marlow (47-39) in the consolation side of the bracket after losing to Muenster, Texas in the opening round.

Warrior Head Coach TJ Scholz was pleased with his team following their consolation championship.

“Over those last three games we found out a little about ourselves,” he said. “Hopefully going forward we’ll know who we are a little better.”

Washington upped the defensive pressure and went with a full-court press with the goal of creating turnovers and stealing a few more possessions in the games.

“We’ve been struggling to score in the half-court offense so we started pressing,” Scholz said. “We extended the bench a little and played more guys by bringing in hard-nosed guys. We wore teams down in the tournament and played tougher.”

Scholz welcomes the added depth to his team. He reviewed some game film and realized several of his players were averaging about 30 minutes per game.

He intends to lower the load for those players and substitute more players in throughout the game.

“I want to keep them as fresh as we can,” he said.

In the opening round of the tournament a talented Muenster team jumped out to a quick lead and Washington was never able to close the scoring gap to any more than about 15 points.

Muenster has a pair of 6-6 players and a 6-3 guard who can score.

“I talked to their coach and he thinks they have a chance to make the State tournament down there,” Scholz said.

Washington came back to beat Lindsay in the next game.

Washington’s defense came up big and forced 24 turnovers.

Washington has been getting solid play from Hayden Hicks, who scored in double figures in each game of the tournament - including going off for 23 against Muenster.

“He’s starting to buy in to the defensive side,” Scholz said. “And he’s earning more minutes. He had big rebounds against Marlow to seal the win.”

Luke Hendrix had a productive tournament for Washington as well, according to Scholz.

Another player the coach praised was Hector Quinonez.

“Hector started hitting some shots,” Scholz said. “He hasn’t shot as well as he’s capable of and it’s good to see him shooting better.”

Washington is 4-7 this season and the team continues to work hard, according to Scholz.

“It’s a credit to the guys. We had a loss on a Tuesday and they came in Wednesday and were ready to work,” Scholz said. “Winning the game is a validation of hard work. And the coaching staff is trying to help them find success.”

Washington plays at Davis Friday night.