Bobcats Slip Past Timberwolves 55-52 in Title Tilt

Despite a furious fourth-quarter rally that saw them erase nearly all of a double-digit deficit, the East Mountain Timberwolves fell just short of a district tournament title Saturday, losing 55-52 to the Bosque Bobcats in the District 5-3A championship game.

While the loss gave the top-seeded Bobcats (17-10) the tournament crown, East Mountain head coach Brad Hofmann believes the narrow margin provides a vital “shot of confidence” as his team moves into the state tournament.

The Timberwolves (25-3) entered the contest having lost twice to Bosque during the regular season by scores of 55-49 and 55-40. On Saturday, they proved they had closed the gap, nearly pulling off a monumental comeback in the final minutes.

Trailing 47-37 with 5:10 remaining in the game, East Mountain ignited a 19-point fourth-quarter explosion. Vicente J. Ortiz led the charge, finishing with a game-high 21 points. Ortiz kept the Timberwolves in contention with several high-degree-of-difficulty plays that Hofmann described as “Michael Jordon kind of stuff.”

“He stepped up,” Hofmann said of Ortiz. “Made big shots, driving, threes, just doing all kinds of stuff.”

The game was a defensive grind from the opening tip. Bosque held a slim 13-11 lead after the first quarter and went into the locker room up 25-24 at the half. The Bobcats extended that lead to 37-33 by the end of the third before stretching it to 10 in the final frame.

Ultimately, the outcome was decided by the smallest of margins—a missed block-out, a stray pass, or a single turnover.

“We were right there,” Hofmann said. “We came back down by 10. Nice comeback, we started to look more like ourselves. Every little bit is just good to emphasize… that missed block-out in the first half could have led to two points. That could have been the difference in the game.”

The Timberwolves faced adversity early as Eric Hofmann dealt with foul trouble, but the team’s depth kept them within striking distance. Eric Hofmann finished with 10 points, while Liam Pierce and Quinlan Gwyther each contributed eight.

Other scorers for East Mountain included Aiden Erickson with three points and Eli Conklin with two.

The Timberwolves won’t have long to dwell on the loss. The team plans to hold a joint selection-show watch party with the East Mountain girls’ basketball team on Sunday afternoon to find out their seeding for the state tournament.

“I told them, now it’s you lose and you go home,” Hofmann said. “We don’t get any mulligans. I guess if we’re going to lose one, better this Saturday than the next Saturday.”

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Box Score

East Mountain (52): Vicente J. Ortiz 21, Eric Hofmann 10, Liam Pierce 8, Quinlan Gwyther 8, Aiden Erickson 3, Eli Conklin 2. Bosque (55): (Individual scoring not provided)

Score by Quarter: East Mountain: 11 | 13 | 09 | 19 — 52 Bosque: 13 | 12 | 12 | 18 — 55