Courtesy of The Minden Press-Herald
The Glenbrook Apaches ended the regular season tied with the River Oaks Mustangs and were forced to play a one-game playoff on a neutral court to decided the district championship.
Friday night, the Apaches and Mustangs met at Union Christian in Farmerville with the district title on the line. After the dust settled, the Apaches came away with a 83-75 win and the district championship.
“It's very exciting to bring the district championship back to Glenbrook,” Apache head coach Chris Kourvelas said.
“Our players and our fans were very excited.”
The Apaches led 13-11 after the first quarter and 36-25 at the half. The Apaches led 56-44 going into the fourth quarter, before the two teams combined for 55 points in a very exciting final quarter.
“The fourth quarter was one of the most exciting quarters of basketball that I’ve coached in a long time,” Kourvelas said. “We were playing River Oaks for the third time this year. We knew they were a very good team and that it would be a battle, and it was.”
Kourvelas said his team had to be mentally tough to beat the Mustangs.
“We knew we had to have a ‘next play’ mentality,” he said. “We knew we would have some shots that wouldn’t fall, and that we would have some turnovers. But if we had a mistake, we just had to focus on the next play. Which I think we did very well.”
Kourvelas said the Apaches felt pretty good in the third quarter, until River Oaks began a comeback.
“We started to put them away a bit in the third quarter,” he said. “But they started coming back on us pretty strong and cut the lead to under 10. But we were able to withstand their run and keep the lead.”
Thomas Beam led Glenbrook with 31 points and 11 rebounds. Colton Spurlock also scored 31 points and pulled down nine rebounds and Matt Moorhead scored 11 points.
Even with the district title in hand, the Apaches don't have time to rest on their laurels.
“It’s a good time for Glenbrook basketball,” Kourvelas said. “However, the celebration can't last too long because we have to focus our attention on Wednesday night.”
The Apaches will begin the South State Tournament at Brookhaven Academy, where they will play the winner of Tuesday's Central Private-Columbia Academy match-up.
Friday night, the Apaches and Mustangs met at Union Christian in Farmerville with the district title on the line. After the dust settled, the Apaches came away with a 83-75 win and the district championship.
“It's very exciting to bring the district championship back to Glenbrook,” Apache head coach Chris Kourvelas said.
“Our players and our fans were very excited.”
The Apaches led 13-11 after the first quarter and 36-25 at the half. The Apaches led 56-44 going into the fourth quarter, before the two teams combined for 55 points in a very exciting final quarter.
“The fourth quarter was one of the most exciting quarters of basketball that I’ve coached in a long time,” Kourvelas said. “We were playing River Oaks for the third time this year. We knew they were a very good team and that it would be a battle, and it was.”
Kourvelas said his team had to be mentally tough to beat the Mustangs.
“We knew we had to have a ‘next play’ mentality,” he said. “We knew we would have some shots that wouldn’t fall, and that we would have some turnovers. But if we had a mistake, we just had to focus on the next play. Which I think we did very well.”
Kourvelas said the Apaches felt pretty good in the third quarter, until River Oaks began a comeback.
“We started to put them away a bit in the third quarter,” he said. “But they started coming back on us pretty strong and cut the lead to under 10. But we were able to withstand their run and keep the lead.”
Thomas Beam led Glenbrook with 31 points and 11 rebounds. Colton Spurlock also scored 31 points and pulled down nine rebounds and Matt Moorhead scored 11 points.
Even with the district title in hand, the Apaches don't have time to rest on their laurels.
“It’s a good time for Glenbrook basketball,” Kourvelas said. “However, the celebration can't last too long because we have to focus our attention on Wednesday night.”
The Apaches will begin the South State Tournament at Brookhaven Academy, where they will play the winner of Tuesday's Central Private-Columbia Academy match-up.
