San Antonio, TX-

The Apaches entered Tuesday night’s contest as the #1 TAPPS 6A team in the State, and it didn’t take long for them to show why.

From the onset, both teams hit the Recko Gym floor ready to go full speed. Gavino Ramos (St. Edwards Signee) and Bryon Armstrong would both hit 2 early treys, giving the Apaches a 9-6 lead.

Steele would counter right back on an Eric Brown corner trey, followed by two Christian Austin free throws, the Knights would find themselves up 13-12, midway through the quarter. Unbeknownst to onlookers that Antonian was about to shift into overdrive and not look back.

To close the 1st Q, Antonian would end the frame on a 17-6 run, as Armstrong would connect on corner three-pointer to make it 27-18 and the Apaches would add another bucket, for a 29-18 lead at the end of one.

The second quarter didn’t see much deceleration from Antonian, as they opened up as much as a 14 point lead, 37-23. Steele’s Beau Cervantes would bank in a straight away trey to cut the deficit to 37-26, but the Apaches would add two more scores before the break, as Chance Felix would be the recipient of an Xavier Martinez steal & then lay it up in transition for the halftime score, 41-26.

Antonian would come out of the locker room and leave no doubt in separating from the Knights. Every starter would be at or near double digits scoring, and if it wasn’t uncontested layups, the Apaches were raining in one of eight team three-pointers. It would result in a 31 point 3rd Q and essentially put the game away heading into the 4th period, 72-45.

In the final quarter, Antonian flirted with a 40 point lead, going up by as many as 39 points, 88-49 with 2:25 to play, and they coasted the rest of the way, for the 91-54 win over Steele.

The balanced attack of Antonian is what caused the separation and realistically it's why they should be returning to the TAPPS 6A State Championship. Armstrong led the assault with 20pts, Santiago Ochoa had 19pts, Martinez added 17pts, Freddy Amaro 14pts, and Ramos pitched in 12pts. The starters accounted for 82 of the 91 points. This type of balance and depth, are why anything short of another TAPPS Championship appearance, would be a disappointment for the program who won it all two years ago, and was runner up last season.

Antonian moves to 10-0 on the season with the win, as they prepare themselves for a showdown with another Region IV power in Westlake, when they travel up to Austin for a 7:30 p.m. tip off on Friday.