Kyle — It was easy to sense the frustration from Lehman head coach Thomas Acker after his team’s 49-23 loss to New Braunfels-Canyon.

The loss itself, and the Lobos’ inability to score their school’s first-ever District 26-4A win, of course, warranted his dismay. But it was his team’s lack of passion and fire against a team that he and many others felt like his Lobos could beat, that really irked Acker.

After all, the Lobos had suffered a 45-44 loss to the same team earlier this season, and Canyon entered the game with only four wins this season, one more than Lehman. But the Lobos never really had a chance, as a slow start doomed Lehman early. Canyon opened with a 10-0 run and the Lobos never threatened, trailing 14-5 after the first and 31-9 at the half.

“We have to play with heart and hustle, which normally we do, but I credit Canyon. They came out and kicked out butts, that’s all there is to it,” Acker said. “We played on our heels all night which is exactly what we had been talking about not doing leading up to this, so it’s a extremely disappointing loss for us.”

Not much went right for the Lobos in the first half, as Lehman committed 11 turnovers, shot 3-of-14 from the field and failed to pull down a single offensive rebound. Acker acknowledged his team’s poor shooting, but pointed at the Lobos’ lack of defensive effort as the primary concern.

The lack of defense was most evident in the second quarter when Canyon outscored the Lobos 17-4.

“Before we talk about our shooting, I think we have got to play some defense,” Acker said. “They were able to run right past several times tonight, so we have to develop a tougher defensive mindset.”

The Lobos did a get a little to cheer about in the third quarter, as junior post Roger Martinez came through with a pair of inside baskets and a free throw, but the Cougars still wound up outscoring the Lobos in the frame, 10-8 to take a 41-17 lead into the fourth quarter.

Lehman senior guard Manny Calderon opened the fourth quarter with a 10-foot pull-up jumper, and after a six-minute LHS scoring drought, canned a three-pointer from the top right side. By then Canyon had extended its lead to 49-22.

Acker said his team had way too many “empty trips” on offense.

“We consider an empty trip as any trip we get on our end of the floor and we don’t get a shot,” Acker said. “And you could count a lot of them tonight.”

Martinez led the Lobos with 11 points while Calderon scored all five of his points in the fourth quarter. Sean Dailey paced the Cougars with 14 points and was credited with eight steals and 10 rebounds.

While Acker had high hopes his team’s district drought would end Friday night, he remains optimistic. The Lobos get another chance Tuesday night at Steele.

“I don’t think there is any game the Lehman Lobos play that they should expect to win,” Acker said. “But this was a good opportunity for us just like it is Tuesday.”



District 26-4A Boys

Canyon 14 17 10 8 — 49

Lehman 5 4 8 6 — 23

Lehman (3-13, 0-3): Roger Martinez 11, Manny Calderon 5, Kerry Weber 4, Hector Brooks 2, Jordan West 1.

Canyon (5-14, 2-1): Sean Dailey 14, Chris Kues 11, Nick Garrison 6, Steven Blakely 6, Ryan Mead 5, Michael Barry 5.