The Trojan varsity basketball team traveled to Port Lavaca on Friday night and fell short by just a few points in each quarter as the PL boys captured a 61-50 win.

“The guys played hard and gave us a chance to win. We just needed to shoot the ball a little better,” said Trojan head coach Jesse Baez.

The Trojans kept right with the host Sandcrabs in the first period, trailing by just one point, 17-16. The tilt was close and the difference proved to be the foul shooting of the Sandcrabs. The home team hit 23 of 32 attempts from the line while the Trojans managed 11 of 19 at the charity stripe. The game was still a contest at 32-28 at the half.

The third period was all defense as both teams failed to break into double figures. The Sandcrabs hit for nine markers while the Trojans got just five points to fall through the net. That made it 41-33 going into the final stanza.

The shooting touch returned for both squads in the fourth quarter. The Sandcrabs poured in 20 points while the Trojans produced 17.

The Beeville defense held most of the Sandcrabs in check, but Corey Barrientes had a game-high 34 points on eight of 16 shooting from the field and a 16 of 17 performance from the free throw line.

The Trojans got 20 points from guard Eric Soza. Robby Horton added nine from his post position. Ysrael Barboza followed with seven. Thomas Camacho sank six and Johnny Dang contributed four. Jordan Gonzales and Adam Garcia each had two points in the loss.

The Trojans played host to the Rockport-Fulton Pirates on Tuesday night and will be back on the road for a Friday night encounter with Moody. Next Tuesday night the Trojans will travel to Corpus Christi to challenge the Ray Texans.