Hale Center finished as the second seed in its Division III pool at the conclusion of the first day of the 7-on-7 football state tournament Thursday in College Station.
The Owls, grouped with reigning Class 2A Division I state champion Ganado, Goldthwaite and Trinity, went 1-2 in pool play at Veterans Park and Athletic Complex. That placed Hale Center in a three-way tie with Trinity and Goldthwaite, which the Owls beat in their last game of the day.
Based on the three-team tiebreaker, which awards the top spot to most total points scored in games involving the trio, Hale Center finished second behind Ganado. Ganado won Pool C with a 3-0 record.
The Owls scored 53 points combined against Goldthwaite and Trinity. That beat out Goldthwaite’s 40 and Trinity’s 41 in the common matchups. The tiebreaker then moves to head-to-head result, which gave Goldthwaite the third seed based on its 26-8 win over Trinity.
All four will move on to Friday’s bracket play.
Hale Center will face Wolfe City in the first round at 8 a.m. The Wolves placed third in a pool that included Albany, Hico and Tidehaven.
The Hale Center-Wolfe City winner will face Poth or Natalia in the second round. There will be five rounds to determine the state champion.
Lamesa finishes third in pool
In a less complicated scenario, Lamesa placed third in its D-II pool. The Golden Tornadoes went 1-2 in a group that included Kingsville, Little River Academy and reigning D-II 7-on-7 state champion Hamshire-Fannett.
Lamesa began the day with a win over Kingsville, followed by losses to H-F and Academy. H-F went undefeated, while Academy finished second at 2-1.
The Golden Tors will face 4A D-II Graham in the first round of bracket play at 8:45 a.m. That winner will draw Frisco Panther Creek or West.
Texas 7-on-7 state tournament scores
Local pools only
DIVISION II
Lamesa 27, Kingsville 14; Hamshire-Fannett 33, Lamesa 20; Little River Academy 33, Lamesa 13; H-F 33, Academy 14; Academy 28, Kingsville 12; H-F 35, Kingsville 6.
DIVISION III
Trinity 33, Hale Center 27; Ganado 33, Hale Center 13; Hale Center 26, Goldthwaite 14; Ganado 47, Goldthwaite 27; Goldthwaite 26, Trinity 8; Ganado 34, Trinity 22.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: How’d Hale Center, Lamesa do in Texas 7-on-7 state tournament pool play?
Reporting by Stephen Garcia, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal / Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
