Horns earn split with Pueblo East

Lady Longhorns suffer 1st loss

It was a tough night for the Holcomb Lady Longhorns as a ball-hawking defense led the Pueblo East Eagles to a 61-52 win in the Clarion Inn Southwest Classic Friday night. Holcomb turned the ball over 27 times and seldom seemed in sync on offense. After falling behind 9-2 early, the Longhorns used a 9-0 run to take the lead late in the first quarter, but the Eagles answered with 5 straight points and led 14-13 at the end of one. Behind Taylor Deniston’s 21 first half points, the Lady Longhorns managed to hold a 28-26 lead at halftime. But Deniston got into foul trouble in the third quarter and the Holcomb offense sputtered through the period, getting outscored 18-11 and trailing 44-39 after three quarters. The Lady Longhorns cut the lead to 2 at the start of the quarter, but the Eagles answered with a 7-0 run and Holcomb never got that close again. Pueblo East finished it off with free throws at the end, hitting 18 out of 21 for the night. Holcomb shot 10 out of 18 from the charity stripe. Taylor Deniston led all scorers with 25 points, getting just 4 in the second half. Jordan Jarnigan finished with 12 points. The Lady Longhorns fall to 2-1 on the season.

Longhorn boys roll again

The Holcomb Longhorns opened up a 16-6 lead in the first quarter and never looked back, blasting the Pueblo East Eagles 70-37 to improve to 3-0 on the young season. The Longhorns played a stifling defense and more than doubled the Eagles in rebounds. Holcomb led 35-16 at halftime and 56-27 at the end of three quarters. The Longhorns built the lead to 36 points, before the Eagles closed the scoring with a 3-point bucket for the final margin. Trey Sleep led Holcomb with 23 points, followed by Jacob Ramsey who came off the bench to hit 4 treys and finished with 12, along with Conner Van Cleave. Christian Merz and Dalton Gottschalk each added 10 points for the Longhorns. One down note—Holcomb was just 10 of 18 from the free throw line.

Both Longhorn teams return to action Saturday night against Garden City. The girls’ game is scheduled to tip off at 6, followed by the boys’ game.