ROBERT LEE, TX — It took all of regulation, plus two overtime periods, but the Robert Lee Steers survived Veribest to claim a district win on Friday night, 49-46.
The Steers' Brenner Sherwood put the team on his back in overtime, tying the game in the first OT period with a three-pointer with under 30 seconds to play. In the second OT period, he then scored eight of Robert Lee's nine points to secure the victory for the Steers. With the win, Robert Lee keeps their playoff hopes alive.
Veribest controlled the game early on in the first quarter. Lockdown defense forced several Steer turnovers until Robert Lee finally started hitting shots in the second. The Steers outscored the Falcons 16-8 in the second quarter, including a buzzer-beating three by Max Garcia to give Robert Lee a 23-16 advantage at the break.
However, the Falcons never went away in the second half. Veribest outscored the Steers 9-5 in the thrd quarter and 9-6 in the fourth to pull even with less than a minute to play. The two teams headed to overtime, the second time this season that OT had to decide a winner. Robert Lee also beat Veribest 58-54 in OT in their first meeting.
With Friday's win, the Steers improve to 13-9 on the season and 4-4 in district, putting them in a tie for third place with Garden City and Irion County. Second-place Veribest fell further from the district leader, Water Valley, with the loss. The Falcons are 20-7 overall but 5-3 in district play.
Sherwood led all scorers with 22 points.
Next up, Robert Lee faces off with Water Valley on the road on Tuesday, Feb. 3. Tip-off in that matchup is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Veribest returns home to host the Bronte Longhorns on Tuesday, Feb. 3. Tip-off in that matchup is also scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
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