Port Aransas South Jetty

Tough sell in Austwell

On the move STAFF PHOTO BY KAREN COLLINS Port Aransas High School Marlin player Jason Ardoin puts a move on an Austwell-Tivoli player in a Dec. 19 game. In the battle of the finned mascots on Friday, Dec. 19, the mighty Marlins couldn't pull off a win over the fighting Redfish.

The Port Aransas High School Marlins fell to the Austwell-Tivoli Redfish, 45-68, in a game played at Tivoli.

The Redfish jumped out to a sizeable lead over the Marlins early in the game and never looked back after that.

Austwell-Tivoli led at the conclusion of every quarter: 20-11 at the end of the first quarter, 34-22 at the half and 55-35 at the end of the third quarter.

"Execution was the game plan coming into this one," said Paul Patteson, coach of the Marlins. "We did a great job executing what (we) wanted. However, we were not able to finish plays."

The Marlins missed a lot of opportunities to score from close range against Austwell-Tivoli, which is a 1-A school, like Port Aransas.

"We are doing really good things," Patteson said. "The ball just did not drop for us. Solid decisionmaking and effort were just not enough this time out."

High and low PAHS Marlin player Joseph Shrier goes high (above) and low (below) while battling Austwell-Tivoli foes. On the plus side, Marlins Joseph Shrier and Christian Collins "played some of their best ball of the season, offensively," Patteson said.

Shrier poured in 13 points, and Collins scored 11 in the ball game.

Marlins Jason Ardoin, Ryan Phillips and Zach Ainscough "really had a great effort," Patteson said.

Ardoin and Phillips scored 8 points. Ainscough scored 2. Other Marlin scorers were Kevin Sikes, with 2, and Andrew Russell with 1.

"Despite several players being sick and nicked up, the guys really played hard and did not moan and groan," Patteson said. "They are looking forward to a little break this next week and hope to come back healthy."

With the loss, the Marlins' record stood at 6-11. They are scheduled to play their next game at Karnes City on Tuesday, Dec. 30.

STAFF PHOTOS BY KAREN COLLINS Flying high STAFF PHOTO BY KAREN COLLINS Christian Collins of the Port Aransas High School Marlins takes to the air against Austwell-Tivoli opponents. STAFF PHOTO BY KAREN COLLINS Jumper! PAHS player Ryan Phillips fires a jump shot against Austwell-Tivoli.