By SCOTT REESE WILLEY

Hometown Press

East Chambers High School senior Hank Jones was 10 years old and in the fifth grade the last time the Buccaneers were the sole possessors of the district championship trophy.

On Tuesday he and the other members of the varsity basketball squad brought the trophy back home to East Chambers for the first time since 2003.

The Bucs rallied in the second half to defeat the Hardin Hornets 65-50 in the last regular season game of the year.

“I told them at half time that they just needed to believe in each other and remember what they had worked so hard for since last spring — bringing the district trophy back to East Chambers,” head coach Daniel Andrews said after the thrilling game in Hardin. “And I was proud of how they responded. They came out in the second half and played a great game against a very good team.”

Hardin head coach Ronald Scott agrees East Chambers put on a second half show worthy of note.

“We knew East Chambers was a good team and they came out in the second half and simply outplayed us,” he said. “They were very impressive.”

Hardin finished district in fourth place behind Anahuac.Kountze finished the district in second place.East Chambers will play its bidistrict match-up on Friday, Feb. 25.

The team and time and date of the playoff game had not been decided as of Tuesday.

The Bucs will likely play a tuneup game this coming Friday, but which team they will play and time and date of the game was not decided Tuesday. 

Hardin outscored East Chambers in the opening period of play Tuesday, ending the first period leading 17-15. In the second period of play the Buccaneers added 10 points to their side of the scoreboard while the Hornets managed 8. The game was tied at 25-25 going into halftime.But the Bucs returned from the lockerrooms a different team.

Their in-your-face, man-on-man coverage in the third and fourth period were too much for Hardin, and contributed to numerous turnovers and baskets for the Bucs.

East Chambers began pulling ahead of Hardin within seconds of the third quarter kicking off and they never fell behind.

“(At half time ) I told them, this is what you’ve been waiting for since last spring, this is what you’ve worked so hard for, what you spent countless hours in the gym practicing for, what you pledged to do and what you committed yourselves to doing: bring home the district title,” Andrews said.