LONGVIEW -- Lufkin had reason to worry.

Coach J.T. McManus called timeout to talk with his team. The Panthers were reeling, allowing John Tyler to crawl back into the game. Following the timeout, they settled down and would go on to win, 62-57.

"We wanted to do a better job of closing the game out and we didn't," McManus said. "We let them hang around, we missed some free throws and shots and they went down and made some shots. We've just been battling a bug. Our end of game situations we need a lot of work on."

The Panthers started the fourth quarter of their matchup against Longview with a 10-point lead. They watched as their advantage began to wane. Daecorian Jessie and Javion Williams made plays late, and soon the Lufkin lead was only 1 with 2:30 to go.

Kevonte Hurts took over. He scored four out of his last five attempts and was deadly from midrange. He finished to lead all scorers with 24 points, 17 of which came in the second half.

"He's got the capability to go off like that every night," McManus said. "He struggled. We ran a couple sets early to try to get him involved. He did a really good job of responding for us."

The Panthers were tested when JaCourtney Calvin got into early foul trouble. Natron Wortham filled in nicely off the bench, finishing with seven points and four rebounds.

"He showed some good things and some bad things," McManus said. "This is a great situation for him to learn to be in. He's playing against bigger guys, learning how to play and do things the right way. He'll be better for having gone through it."

Longview has little trouble with Liberty-Eylau

LONGVIEW-- The Lobos needed a group effort to take down Liberty-Eylau on Friday.

Behind several scoring stars, Longview took down the Leopards, 68-59.

Ten different Lobos scored, with three reaching double figures. Jason Bush led the bunch with 12 points and finished with three rebounds and a block.

The Lobos leaned on second-chance opportunities, with players such as Jaylin Brown and  Malik Henry scoring several times after offensive rebounds.

Longview entered the fourth quarter with a 20-point lead, but a few scores from Liberty-Eylau late allowed the score to seem closer than the game felt. Most of the Leopards' comeback took place with Longview's starters resting on the bench.

Dominique Williams led the Leopards with 20 points. Henry had six rebounds in the victory.

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