Mental mistakes late in the fourth quarter crushed the Lehman Lobos chances at upsetting the division-leading Leander Lions Friday night at the Lobo Den.

A pair of late free throws with less than four seconds left in the game allowed Leander to secure a 47-45 comeback win over Lehman.

The game began in Lehman’s favor as they played with excellent spacing, stretching Leander’s defense out and hitting multiple wide-open three-point attempts. Seven of Lehman’s nine first quarter shot attempts came from beyond-the-arc. 

Leading 13-11 going into the second quarter, Lehman continued to execute on offense in the second frame. Their passes were sharp, accurate and were performed with a certain level of confidence.

Although the momentum seemed to be completely in Lehman’s favor, the Lions were methodical with their offense. Whenever Lehman seemingly went on a run, the Lions figured out a way to answer.

Leander exemplified this style of play in the last minute of the first half. Lehman junior guard Kenny Henderson, who was the team’s leading scorer on the night with 17 points, hit his third three-pointer to extend the lead to 23-16.

Back-to-back Leander three pointers, however, followed his bucket. One of which was a turn-around, buzzer-beating, bank-shot from Lions senior center Chase Cotton that slashed the lead down to 23-22 at halftime.

Although the Lions managed to take their first lead in the beginning of the third quarter, Lehman’s confidence did not waiver. They answered with their own 5-0 run, working the ball with the precision and confidence that they had all game.

Holding a 38-32 lead and the potential to upset their divisions current leader in their fingertips, Lehman head coach Mike Whitten preached the importance of ball-security in the final quarter to his team.

“I just told them, ‘run the clock out’ and if you don’t have a layup or a free-throw, don’t shoot it,” said Whitten.

But the Lobos, however, didn’t take their coaches advice.

Henderson, the hero for making three’s earlier in the game, shot another three-point attempt despite his coaches wishes.

This decision caused a chain reaction that led to four straight points for the Lions.

Although their lead was dwindling, the Lobos hustle never stopped.

“I don’t fault their effort at all,” said Whitten. “They play hard, they really do. I’m really proud of them for that.”

Trailing 43-41, Henderson forced a steal and went coast-to-coast for the layup to tie the game at 43 with 33 seconds left in the game.

After both teams scored, the game remained tied at 45-45 with just over 10 seconds to play.

Lions’ senior guard Kobe Thompson took the ball to the rack and was subsequently fouled with 3.9 seconds remaining.

Thompson’s first attempt rattled off the back of the rim and seemed to hold in place above the cylinder before bouncing off the front of the rim and in to give the Lions a one-point advantage.

After he missed the second attempt, Cotton, proved himself clutch yet again, by securing the offensive rebound and drew a foul.

Like Thompson, Cotton made the first attempt and missed the second.

Although they were only down by two, the Lobos had no timeouts and were unable to advance the ball past half-court in the 2.5 seconds left in the contest.

Leander held on and completed their comeback.

“Anywhere in our district on the road is tough,” said Leander head coach Clint Bradley. “They’ve been there before, they’re battle tested, and I told them they’re not gonna give this to you you’re gonna have to take it from them and they stepped up.”

After suffering another loss in a closely matched division game, Whitten says he hopes his team learns from their mistakes for the second round of district play.

“We just got to make better decisions down the stretch,” said Whitten. “We’re basically starting over again – we’re going back around through district so hopefully we’ll get some of these done and get some wins.”