Advosports

AUSTIN - Technically, Hallettsville's second consecutive trip to the UIL state basketball tournament ended like its first.

The Brahmas stood on the court at the Erwin Center and had bronze medals placed around their necks after Friday morning's 75-64 overtime loss to Idalou in the Class 2A semifinal.

Hallettsville (33-5) had overcome an eight-point deficit in the fourth quarter before tying the game at 60 on a pair of free throws by Christian Wood-Dvorak with 12.7 seconds remaining.

But the Brahmas' hopes to reach the state final began to slip away in a scramble for the ball under their basket that resulted in a technical foul being called on coach Rich Dozier with 1:21 left in overtime.

Koal Houchin made the ensuing two free throws to put Idalou (32-1) up 66-62, and the Wildcats went on to convert 9 of 10 times from the free throw line to move into Saturday's 2 p.m. final against Tatum, a 70-54 semifinal winner over Melissa.

"It definitely took a lot of momentum away from that," said Hallettsville's Clayton O'Neill. "We still knew we were in the game. We've been down worse than that all the years we've been playing basketball together, so we knew we could come back. I would say it did take a lot of momentum away."

Dozier was at a loss to explain the call, which came after O'Neill had grabbed Hallettsville's third consecutive offensive rebound on the possession.

"I am a super, super positive person," Dozier said. "I will never say anything bad about anybody. I actually said, 'Give me a call.' For those of who don't know me, I'm a Christian, I don't cuss, I don't talk about your mama, your daddy, your sisters. I said give me a call, and he said I yelled in his ear."

Dozier had a discussion with the officials on Hallettsville's previous possession after one official called a block on Idalou and another called a charge on Dante Haynes as he drove to the basket with the score tied at 62. The officials consulted and ruled the call a charge, which sent Haynes to the bench with his fifth foul.

"I'm really sad for my players that's the way it went down," Dozier said. "There's no doubt that took a lot of wind out of the sail. I can count my Ts in my career on one hand and that was really a bad situation for both me and that official. On the previous call, he's actually the one who called the block and let them overrule it, and I don't know if he was subconscious, conscious, but it definitely bothered him."

The Brahmas were plagued early in the game by poor shooting. They made only 4 of 21 field goals in the first quarter and after taking a 5-2 lead, were outscored 17-4.

"It was a little bit of nerves and shot selection," Dozier said. "The kids are just awesome and when you get to the state tournament it's a different level. It's a different level of size and a different level of speed and those looks are wide open in the regional tournament and when you get to the state tournament they're not wide open. You just get a little more defensive pressure on you and then you adjust to it. Kids adjust to it and did great."

Hallettsville's shooting did not get much better the rest of the game. The Brahmas were 24 of 73 from the field and did not make a 3-pointer after the first quarter, finishing 2 of 19 from behind the arc.

Riley Payne scored 29 points for Idalou, which went 26 of 60 from the field and led by as many as 13 points in the third quarter.

"With those guys, you're never in control," said Idalou coach Tyler Helms. "They can fill it up in a hurry. We told our guys they were going make runs. That's their tempo and style of play. Those guys are never out of it. We never felt comfortable."

Hallettsville stayed in the game by outrebounding Idalou 48-41. The Brhamas had 21 offensive rebounds and closed out the fourth quarter on a 14-6 run.

"All year long we played 48 minutes of basketball and we know when we're down we have the energy or the legs to keep it up and fight back from a deficit," said Wood-Dvorak, who had 18 points and 19 rebounds. "That was the mentality, just go out there and pull it down as much as we could and know that we could push it in the end."

Haynes led Hallettsville with 21 points before fouling out on the disputed call with 2:17 left in overtime.

"We joke around on our team when we see Dante with a little jump a little bounce in his step we give the ball to him," Dozier said. "We don't have a name for it, but Camp (Dozier) does a good job at the point guard when we see him bounce, we get the ball to him. He was bouncing. Our whole team saw him bouncing and if that would have been a block instead of a charge I think we would be doing something else today."

Hallettsville will be watching the state final from the stands like it did after last year's semifinal loss to Ponder, and the Brahmas know that's not a technicality.

"Last year, we were happy to make it to state and our mission pretty much was to make it to the state final," Camp Dozier said. "This year we're not happy with it. We wanted to go all the way."

Idalou 75, Hallettsville 64, OT

HALLETTSVILLE: Camp Dozier 5, Christian Wood-Dvorak 18, Dante Haynes 21, Trevor McGee 12, Clayton O'Neill 2, Logan Goode 3, Jordan Jackson 0, Anthony Vesely 3.

IDALOU: Riley Payne 29, Luke Buckner 12, Tyler Dowdy 9, Alec Estes 7, Bradley Adkins 3, Bryce Schilling 0, Koal Houchin 9, Brent Turner 0, Kaden Lackey 0, Garrett Thornton 2, Alan Zahn 2.

Halftime: Idalou 36-27. 3-pointers: Dozier, Vesely, Dowdy, Estes, Houchin. Rebounds: Wood-Dvorak 19, McGee 10, Adkins 11, Buckner 10. Records: Hallettsville 33-5; Idalou 32-1.

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