It was all even at the half, but the host Ingleside Mustangs took advantage of some cold shooting and defensive lapses to rally past the Trojans in the second half to post a 47-34 win over the visiting Beeville boys.

“The kids played fairly well the first half, but our defensive recognition and our offensive execution was very poor. The second half was more of the same and we had a lot of trouble scoring points,” said coach Mike Luce.

It was Luce’s debut this season as head coach of the Trojans.

The Mustangs hit for 15 first period points while the Trojans put up 13 markers. In the second period, the Trojans evened things up by capturing the second segment, 10-8. It was all knotted at 23-23 heading into the second half.

The Trojans had trouble getting the ball to fall in the second half, especially in the final period. Beeville scored seven points in the third period, allowing the Mustangs to grab a 39-30 advantage.

The game was still within reach but the Trojans had to get hot and produce points.

The Beeville scoring effort plummeted even further as they managed just four points in the final eight minutes to help the Mustangs to a victory.

“Our effort was there and I was proud of that, but the outcome still went in the wrong column. All the trouble spots can and will be fixed before our first district game on Friday,” Luce said.

Chet Sparks led the JHS scoring with 12 in the loss. Conner Shear hit for nine tallies and helped control the boards for the Trojans. Nick Waters added four points as did Felix Morales. Jeffery Stafford finished with three and Hunter Hardy added two points in the loss.

The Trojans began District 30-4A play last night (Friday) with a trip to Floresville to tangle with the Tigers. Tuesday night the Beeville boys will host Port Lavaca. The games begin at 5 p.m. with the freshman and JV contests.