The Huntingdon Mustangs basketball team fell on the road and ended their season in Region 6-1A semifinal play to Loretto 71-58 on Tuesday March 2, but not after a fourth quarter rally by the Mustangs fell short.
The Mustangs trailed 19-11 at the end of the first quarter and being behind just 10-9 midway through the first. The Mustangs struggled to get the ball in the hole in the second as they only managed eight points and trailed 35-19 at the half.
The Mustangs came out of the locker room with a lot of defensive intensity but only managed to cut the margin by two points as they outscored Loretto 15-13 in the third and trailed 48-34 at the end of that quarter. The Mustangs got to within 60-52 and had the ball with a chance to get closer, but they turned the ball over and never recovered as Loretto went to the foul line 17 times in the final frame and made 12 to keep their lead and increased to the final margin of 71-58.
The Mustangs ended the season at 13-11 but won nine of their last 13 games and finished as the second-place team in the district with their only losses coming to the district champions West Carroll. Against Loretto, the Mustangs only made 9-29 shots from the three-point line and were a poor 7-17 from the line. Loretto was 7-12 from behind the arc and 15-23 at the line.
Keyshun Hoard for the second consecutive game led the Mustangs in scoring as he tallied 15 after scoring 27 in the Mustangs win over Perry County. Milton Clark added 12, Javon Pritchard 8, Jeb Atkinson 7, Ty Kelley 5, D’Allen McCord 4, Blake Bradley 4, and Grant Bartholomew 3. Loretto was led by five players in double figures: Xavier Young 18, Brendon Tips 17, Tabias Sirmones 11, Caleb Davis 11, and Shaler Hankins 11.
