The Beeville Trojan varsity basketball team played another district foe really close but could not get enough shots to drop through the nets in a 55-43 loss to the visiting Rockport-Fulton Pirates on Tuesday night.

“The boys are doing everything right, except we can’t buy a basket,” said Trojan head coach Jesse Baez.

“The guys are playing hard and really competing, but it is tough to win when you shoot 27 percent from the field.”

The Trojans shot under 30 percent for the second game in a row and it is tough to win when to shots won’t drop. To the Trojans’ credit, their game with the Pirates was still in doubt going into the final eight minutes, thanks to some tough defense.

The Trojan scoring woes began with just 17 first half points while the Pirates hit for 24 over the first two periods. The Beeville boys battled back in the third period, cutting the lead to one with just a few seconds left in the period. A late R-F basket made it a three-point game at 36-33, going into the final quarter.

The Trojans were in foul trouble and lost a couple of players late in the game to the whistle. The Pirates started the final stanza with an 11-3 run that put the game out of reach for the struggling Trojans. The final went to the visitors 55-43.

The shorter Trojans did out rebound the taller Pirates by a count of 32 caroms to 29. The hustle and defense are there, but the shooting just needs to come around.

The Trojans were led in scoring by Eric Soza with 12 points. Vinny Garza added eight points. Thomas Camacho hit for seven in the loss. Robby Horton added five from his post position. Ysrael Barboza supplied four points. Derell Jackson and Johnny Dang both had three. Matt Botello made one free throw.

The Trojans were in Corpus Christi last night (Friday) to challenge the Moody Trojans. The Beeville boys will be at Ray next Tuesday night to battle the Texans.