By: Nick Hall
The Plainview Bears spent last week breaking more basketball records. After setting a record for consecutive wins at Sylvania on Tuesday night, the Bears broke their new record three nights later at home against Geraldine, and again the following day against Lincoln County, TN. The old record, which had stood since 1993, was 19 consecutive wins. By Saturday, the new record stood at 22, despite the Bears’ struggles shooting the ball all week. Read below to see how the Bears did it.
Plainview 80 – Sylvania 52
The Sylvania Rams’ gymnasium was packed to the rafters Tuesday night, but any hope of an upset was quickly put to rest as the Plainview Bears jumped out to a 27-9 first period lead. The Bears’ defense was so dominant early, the Rams didn’t score their first basket until around two minutes left in the first. The Rams put together a good second period and closed the gap to 45-29 at the half, but the third period saw Plainview extend the lead again before the Bears’ bench finished out the game. Koby Tinker led the Bears scoring with 20 points. Caden Millican followed with 18 while Tristan Willingham netted 11. Dane Haymon and Haden White had five rebounds each while Caden Millican followed with four.
Plainview 81 – Geraldine 50
The Bears’ field goal percentage continued to slide in the wrong direction against the Geraldine Bulldogs. However, tenacious defense got the job done once again as Plainview held Geraldine to just eight points in the first period while netting 22 themselves. The second period was much the same with the Bears winning 25-8 and taking a 47-16 advantage into the half. The Bulldogs shot better in the second half, but the damage was too extensive to overcome. Tinker led Plainview scoring again with 19, followed by Caden Millican with 15. Grant Sanders and Tristan Willingham netted 10 each. Jathan Underwood grabbed five rebounds, followed by Dane Haymon and Sanders with three each.
Plainview 66 – Lincoln
County, TN 33
Once again, the Bears shooting woes shined a spotlight on their gritty defense which was overshadowed during much of last year’s championship run. Plainview shot just 41.1 percent from the field Saturday while allowing the Lincoln County, TN Falcons just 33.3 percent and 33 points. The Bears dominated early as usual, taking a 26-9 lead into the second period. This was due in large part to winning the turnover battle as they did against Sylvania and Geraldine. Tinker led the way scoring again, netting 23 points. Caden Millican was the only other Bear in double digits with 11 while White and Jonah Williams had nine each. Caden Millican grabbed five rebounds while Haymon had five.
“I really liked our approach at Sylvania. It was a hostile environment, but our kids didn’t let that affect them,” said Bears’ head coach Robi Coker. “Geraldine did a good job of slowing us down early. We finally were able to create the pace we want to play at and our depth wore on them a little. Against Lincoln County we were very good defensively, especially in the first half–maybe better than we’ve been all year. With all the things we had going on and the short turn, our kids did a great job focusing on the things that matter.”