The Haltom Buffalos waltzed into their matchup on Wednesday with four straight wins but they left with five. They escaped with a win against South Grand Prairie by the margin of a single free throw, 62-61. The victory was all the more spectacular given Haltom's disadvantage in MaxPreps' Texas basketball rankings (they are ranked 138th, while South Grand Prairie is ranked 14th).
Haltom had a senior duo take command as Kuol Atak dropped a double-double on 25 points and ten rebounds and Baron Smith jr dropped a double-double on 15 points and 13 rebounds. That makes it five consecutive games in which Atak has scored at least a third of Haltom's points. Another player making a difference was Ashton Moore, who scored ten points.
Haltom is on a roll lately: they've won 12 of their last 14 games, which provided a nice bump to their 17-7 record this season. As for South Grand Prairie, their defeat ended a six-game streak of away wins dating back to last season and brought them to 21-6.
Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Haltom will challenge Grand Prairie at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Grand Prairie is on a three-game streak of home wins, Haltom a four-game streak of away wins -- so someone will have to leave a streak behind on the court. As for South Grand Prairie, they will head out on the road to face off against Lamar at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.
