Childress makes its third state tournament appearance, starting with a semifinal battle against Lytle

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (KFDA) - For the Childress Bobcats, they have only made it to the state tournament three times in program history, this year, eight years ago in 2015, and the first time dating back to 1944.

This year, the Bobcats decided to flip the script. Even with a younger squad, and not a huge height advantage over a lot of other teams, the Childress Bobcats captured a share of the district championship, many gold balls on their journey to a regional final championship, and now a trip to San Antonio for the state tournament.

For this year’s state semifinal round, the Bobcats will face off against the Lytle Pirates, who will only have a 28 minute drive to the Alamodome compared to Childress’ six plus hour road trip.

But even though Childress does not have a lot of history on the big stage, Head Coach Wayne Parker feels that his team is ready to go this year.

“We just have to be disciplined, and do what we do, “ Coach Parker said. “It’s two teams that play the same style, so the most disciplined team is going to have success tomorrow.”

After a nailbiter of a regional final game against a historically successful Brock team, the Bobcats came out victorious 56-55 in overtime. Five years ago in Coach Parker’s first year at Childress, they lost to Brock in the regional finals.

“There was a lot of emotions after that game. I remember hugging several players and they have tears of joy and happiness in their eyes. It was a celebration of getting over the hump and making it to the state tournament,” Coach Parker said.

The momentum from getting past a tough region to make it to San Antonio is something that Coach Parker feels will carry over into this week.

“They’re a gritty bunch. They know how to get things done, and it’s just a fun group to be around. They fight until the end.” Coach Parker said.

The Bobcats have definitely turned things around. Last year, due to some injures, they came in as the fourth seed and were eliminated in the bi-district by Bushland.

“We didn’t have our full unit last year,” Coach Parker said. “We didn’t play our best basketball, but playing tougher games and having a really touch schedule last year has really benefited us this year.”

Childress will tip off against Lytle for the 3A semifinal round Thursday at 3 p.m. at the Alamodome.

We will have continued coverage on NewsChannel10.com and on our NewsChannel 10 Sports social media platforms.

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