Cowboys notch Edgewood ISD, key win over Burbank

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No matter how well a team deals with inexperience, and McCollum assembled a good 2012-13 season in spite of it, it’s unavoidable that young teams will be sprayed by the the fallout.

For the Cowboys, the inexperience came to bear in the form of a pair of untimely losses in their last two games. A loss to at more experienced rival Harlandale forced them into a fourth-place playoff. A veteran Kennedy team on a hot streak won the tie-breaker game and McCollum missed the playoffs despite a 16-18 overall record and 7-7 mark in District 29-4A.

The Cowboys (6-2) have shown their experience so far this season. McCollum held off a Burbank comeback to win 58-55 Tuesday on the heels of an Edgewood ISD Tournament championship. The Bulldogs (2-4) made it tight at the end at McCollum. They turned up the defensive pressure to whittle down a 12-point Cowboys lead.

“We’ve had a difficult schedule,” McCollum coach Luke Mackay said. “We’ve kind of been road warriors, but we played well in our one home game. We’re still sort of a young team. We still have a long way to go, but I’m hoping we’ll get there in a hurry, because district (play) isn’t that far away.”

McCollum even exacted some revenge on a former district rival to win the Edgewood title. The Cowboys prevailed 51-46 over traditional power Kerrville Tivy (4-1) Nov. 23 in the championship game.

“They’re a good, tough team,” Mackay said. “We never got them when they were in our district, so it was a bit of a payback.

“I think it was just our perseverance after Tivy made their run. The kids stayed tough and stuck to the game plan. They’re tall and they have some athleticism.”

The Cowboys defeated Memorial 58-50 and Hawkins 77-31 to reach the finals. McCollum watched Tivy cut a sizable lead down to the quick before spurting away from the Antlers.

“We were up (by) double figures and they managed to cut it down to one possession,” Mackay said. “The big thing for us is always how we defend and rebound. We’re not big enough or athletic enough to compensate for mistakes. You can’t give them anything easy.”

Cowboys senior guard Joey Villarreal was the tournament’s most valuable player, despite being a substitute. Junior Nathan Martinez was the offensive MVP. Sophomores Trey Johnson, like Martinez a returning starter, and Steve Villarreal were all-tournament picks.

There’s still some youth intersecting with the Cowboys’ newfound experience. Third-year varsity player Cosmo Cantu is just a junior and Angel Loera returns as the starting point guard, but they’re playing alongside freshman Roger Martinez when the ball is tipped off.

Danny Lerma, who started last year, is part of the bench platoon along with both Villarreals (they’re not related) and sophomore Santiago Vasquez.

“Most of our guys are playing well,” Mackay said. “We’re quite deep. Against Burbank, we played 10 guys. Usually, I’ve been getting 10-12 guys into the game. There’s relatively little drop off when we go to the bench. It’s just an opportunity to rest the starters, so they’ll have fresh legs going into the third and fourth quarters.

“We’re still very young, but we’ve got a lot of kids that bought into the program and put in a lot of work over the summer. Now they’re contributing.”

McCollum’s next challenge will be at the South San Tournament, which begins Thursday and continues through Saturday.