Calhoun clinched berth in dramatic fashion

February 13, 2007 - Posted at 12:00 a.m.

Calhoun's Jackson Gayle made only one field goal against Rockport-Fulton but it came at exactly the right time.

Gayle's basket in the final seconds of the fourth quarter gave the Sandcrabs a 49-47 win at Rockport and allowed them to clinch a District 30-4A playoff berth.

What the Calhoun players may not have known is the victory over the Pirates was also career win No. 550 for coach Jon House.

"It was great for the kids and how hard they've worked," said House, who is in his 30th season as a head coach and third at Calhoun after stops at Rockport-Fulton, Port Isabel, Midland Lee, Lamar Consolidated, Needville and San Saba.

"There's no doubt going south helped us out. But a lot of it is the expectations of the community and the administration and the support from the community and the administration."

Calhoun has an 18-12 record this season after winning a total of seven games last year, when it competed in a district that sent Angleton to the state tournament. But the Sandcrabs have gone 2-1 this season against their former district foes.

"I kind of threw some young kids to the wolves," House said of last season. "We started two freshmen against some real competitive people. It was just a matter of building a program and knowing how to compete."

House has no doubt the success Calhoun had in football has carried over to basketball.

"We've got things in a pretty good place," House said. "Richard (Whitaker, Calhoun's athletic director and head football coach) has done a great job and we're trying to follow the football team's lead. Richard and I have both been places where we've had success and we understand what it takes to be competitive. We've been there and done that."

Calhoun won Friday's game despite going 0 for 23 from 3-point range. But Tyler McAfee, the lone senior starter, had a double-double and the Sandcrabs did what was necessary to win. On the winning shot, Chris Baldera got the ball to Gayle after noticing Rockport-Fulton had failed to rotate.

"We give our kids the freedom to do a lot of things," said House, who isn't afraid to put any of his nine players on the floor. "We play pretty good defense so we're pretty loose with what we do on the offensive side. It's just our system of what we do. It's a great turnaround for the kids and their understanding of what we're trying to do. It's a complete team type thing."

Calhoun closes out district play at home tonight against district-leading Corpus Christi Moody. If the Sandcrabs win and Beeville wins at home against Gregory-Portland, Calhoun, Beeville and Moody will finish in a three-way tie for first. House said in the event of a three-way tie, the coaches would meet to work out the playoff seeding.

"This has been a challenge for me," House said. "Gary (Davenport, Calhoun's previous athletic director and head football coach) brought me in here to try and turn things around and it's been kind of fun. We've had great crowds. Our gym has been packed. The Sandcrab nation is really rising up. I think we had as many or more people in the stands at Rockport as they had. It's kind of neat to see the excitement of the community and the kids are embracing it."

PLAYOFFS DRAW NEAR

Most Advocate-area boys teams will complete district play tonight. Following is a look at the playoff scenario for area teams:

District 24-4A: El Campo has clinched a playoff berth. It will be the second or third seed depending on the result of its game against Lamar Consolidated, which has already clinched the district championship, and the game between Rosenberg Terry, which has also clinched a playoff berth, and Katy Seven Lakes.

District 24-3A: Wharton has clinched the district championship and a first-round bye.

District 29-3A: Gonzales and Yoakum have clinched playoff berths. If Gonzales beats Palacios and Yoakum defeats Cuero, Gonzales and Yoakum would tie for the district championship and Cuero and Goliad, which is idle, would tie for third place and play to determine the playoff berth. If Gonzales wins and Cuero beats Yoakum, Gonzales would finish first, Yoakum would be second and Cuero would be third.

District 27-2A: Van Vleck would clinch a playoff berth with a win over Houston Yes Prep. If Van Vleck beats Yes Prep and Brazos Consolidated beats Boling, Van Vleck and Brazos Consolidated would tie for second.

District 28-2A: Schulenburg has clinched the district championship and a first-round bye. The outcome of the Rice Consolidated-Edna and Hallettsville-Industrial games will determine second and third place. Rice Consolidated would clinch second with a win over Edna. If Rice Consolidated defeats Edna, Industrial would clinch third with a win over Hallettsville. If Edna defeats Rice Consolidated, and Industrial defeats Hallettsville, Rice Consolidated, Industrial and Edna would finish in a three-way tie for second. By virtue of head-to-head competition, Industrial would get the second seed and Rice Consolidated the third seed. If Edna defeats Rice Consolidated and Hallettsville beats Industrial, Edna and Rice Consolidated would tie for second and would either play or flip a coin to determine seeding. Industrial, Edna and Hallettsville would tie for third, if Rice Consolidated beats Edna and Hallettsville defeats Industrial. The teams would play to determine the third-place representative.

District 29-2A: If Kenedy defeats Navarro, Nixon-Smiley beats Karnes City and Stockdale defeats Poth, Kenedy, Nixon-Smiley, Stockdale and Poth would finish in a four-way tie for first. If Kenedy and Nixon-Smiley win and Poth defeats Stockdale, Kenedy and Nixon-Smiley would tie for second.

District 31-2A: Refugio and Taft are tied for second place. Refugio would clinch a playoff berth with a win over Three Rivers or an Odem loss to Bloomington.

District 28-1A, Division I: Louise and Moulton have clinched playoff berths. Flatonia would clinch third place with a win over Shiner. If Shiner beats Flatonia, the teams would tie for third and have a playoff.

District 31-1A, Division I: Pettus and Woodsboro have clinched playoff berths and are tied for first with Falls City. If Woodsboro defeats Port Aransas, it would tie for first with the Pettus-Falls City winner.

District 31-1A, Division II: Waelder has clinched the district championship, Nordheim has secured second and Runge has clinched third.

Mike Forman is a sports writer for the Victoria Advocate. Contact him at 361-580-6588 or mforman@vicad.com, or comment on this column at www.VictoriaAdvocate.com.