Tough district sets up Nederland for postseason battles
Published 12:03 am Wednesday, February 17, 2021
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For the 13th-straight year, the Nederland Bulldogs are making a postseason appearance.
The Bulldogs earned the third seed for District 21-5A behind Beaumont United and Crosby. Barbers Hill earned the fourth seed when Memorial lost to Beaumont United Friday in the final game of the season.
The Bulldogs (20-5, 7-5) are scheduled to play Goose Creek Memorial in Winnie Friday in the bi-district round if the weather permits, Nederland head coach Brian English said.
Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday at East Chambers High School.
“As you go into the season, you want to continue what you have been doing and give the kids a great experience,” he said. “The playoffs are part of that experience. I’m proud of the kids for continuing to work hard and accomplish some goals they had.”
English said his team was scheduled to practice Monday, but area-wide shutdowns and road closures made it impossible.
“I don’t know if they are going to push the first round back,” English said. “I am not sure. Luckily, it is Friday and not Wednesday. Everyone is in the same boat. We just have to deal with it.”
The Bulldogs capped off their regular season with a 47-45 loss to Crosby Friday. Enlglish said the grind of playing in the same district as Crosby and the No. 2-ranked Beaumont United prepares the Bulldogs for the postseason.
“You hate to see the district align like it did, but if you get in the playoffs, you should be prepared,” he said. “Anything can happen, but we feel pretty good about where we are right now. We played pretty good Friday. Crosby is a really good team.”
English is proud of how his team played down the backstretch of the season.
The Bulldogs won four of their last six to close the season.
“You don’t want to go into the playoffs struggling,” he said. “Luckily, we have played well this last half of district. We lost a couple of close ones. I feel pretty good about where some of the kids are. They started out pretty slow but now, they are starting to produce for us. Hopefully, that makes a difference in the playoffs.”
Port Neches-Groves and Memorial missed the playoffs.
Memorial needed to defeat Beaumont United Friday to earn the fourth seed.
The Titans came up short, falling 84-60 to the Timberwolves, who completed an unbeaten regular season.
The Indians finished with a record of 6-17, 2-9, while the Titans finished with a record of 8-15, 5-7.
PNG’s signature win of the season was a 48-41 overtime decision over Barbers Hill last month.
Memorial swept PNG and Galena Park.